Fergie’s a star on the Vegas Strip

And in the “bright light city” at that.

Larne man Robert Ferguson has taken up residency on the Las Vegas Strip, in the $160 million Hakkasan night club, which opens on Thursday (April 18) in the iconic MGM Hotel and Casino complex.

Following in the footsteps of Vegas entertainers like the Rat Pack and Elvis, the former Factory lad - now branded Fergie dj - is mixing with the biggest names in the business like Tiesto, Calvin Harris and deadmau5. The MGM Grand attracts the world’s biggest stars with The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and Beyonce all due to perform on stage this year.

Former Radio 1 presenter Fergie will be in the DJ box in a 75,000 sq ft dining and entertainment centre across five levels which will set out to be a unique fusion of top cuisine and must-see night life. He said: “When I first toured America I was only 19 years old, but now it’s a new time and a new place. I’m here and I’m ready.”

It’s yet another new high in a career that began when Robert Ferguson was barely a teenager. The electronic dance pioneer is a global hit whose residencies include all the biggest venues. Fergie has had many sounds, identities and even a brief name change over the course of a career that began over 20 years ago but has undoubtedly remained one of dance music’s most controversial, most successful and most loved characters.

In 2012, his most audacious move yet came with a new name - Rob Guson - and a bold new sound. The three illustrious DJ residencies he now holds in the US is unprecedented: at the Wet Republic pool party in Vegas, the HQ Nightclub in Atlantic City and now the Hakkasan.

Residencies have always been a key part of Fergie dj’s career; Trade in London is where it all began and his ascent to stardom continued in Ibiza, where he was resident at one of the island’s oldest and renowned clubs: Amnesia.

He remains the highest new entry of all time in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll (at number eight in 2000). As well as his own weekly radio show that championed new underground sounds to millions of listeners, his 13 DJ mixes for the Essential Mix Radio 1 show makes him one of the most featured DJs in its 10-year history.

In the studio, Fergie has remixed a diverse range of acts and artists, from the Pet Shop Boys and Tears For Fears to Umek and UNKLE. He’s headlined the world’s most famous clubs and festivals: Berlin Love Parade, in Argentina with Moby to over 50,000 party people, the muddy fields of the Glastonbury festival, he’s even won the world’s biggest DJ competition, beating Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox and Darren Emerson of Underworld fame to the crown.

Fergie is still keeping people dancing to the beat of his own drum. He is now working with Studio DMI and new songs will be available soon.

His mum Alice, in Larne, and immensely proud of her superstar son, is now a frequent visitor to the US and otherwise keeps tabs on Facebook and on Twitter (@fergiedj)

She said: “He briefly played under the guise of Rob Guson for the first year in Las Vegas just to give himself a chance to get a feel for the scene, but it will be Fergie, bigger than life as usual, at Hakkasan.”