Anouk
Biography Anouk
Anouk
There is singers, and then there is Anouk. Anouk is one of a kind. Her singing is so much more than just singing. Her voice comes up from her toes like a force of nature, and immediately grabs you like a musical lump in the throat. This tough lady, who always pursues her own course, following her musical intuition, has had a hold on the Netherlands for over fifteen years now. In 1997 Anouk Teeuwe stormed the Dutch musical world with her single ‘Nobody’s Wife’, an explosive rock anthem about independence, that stayed high on the Dutch charts for weeks. Holland massively fell for Anouk's powerful, clear voice, and the expression with which she poured out her heart and soul. A rock star was born. The singer from The Hague, then 22 years old, was already well-known in Dutch musical circles. Two years before her big break, she was a student at the Rotterdam School of Music when she came into contact with Golden Earring singer Barry Hay, with whom she sang a few songs live at a festival in The Hague. He was so impressed with her singing that he offered to write material for her, which resulted in a first single: ‘Mood Indigo’. A little under a year later ‘Nobody’s Wife’ was released and everyone in the Netherlands knew who Anouk was. Now, sixteen years later, Anouk is still one of the most popular performing artists in the Netherlands. No less than seven of the eleven albums she released are high on the Dutch album chart, and thirteen singles made the top 10. Over the years she has received many awards, including an impressive nine Edisons (the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy). In 2001 she won the Pop Award, a prestigious Dutch annual music award that is presented to a performing artist who has made an important contribution to Dutch pop music, and both in 2005 and in 2006 she won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Dutch Act. Between 1997 and 2011 Anouk released seven studio albums, resulting in dozens of hits. Initially, the wilful singer from The Hague was mostly known for her explosive rock songs like ‘Nobody’s Wife’ and ‘R U Kiddin’ Me’, but she has also made small and fragile songs like ‘Lost’ and ‘Michel’, and in later albums she has experimented with soul, funk, and hip-hop. But there is always that voice, like a recurrent theme - that voice that stands like a rock. That voice that can flatter, spit fire, touch your heart or blow you away. That is sometimes raw, and at other times fragile. Anouk's often painfully outspoken lyrics strike a chord in her fans, who identify with her personal stories. Anouk is internationally successful as well. ‘Nobody’s Wife’ was a great hit in Norway and Sweden, and the singer scored a number 1 hit in Denmark with ‘Lost’. In Albania the single ‘One Word’ ended up at the top of the chart. Anouk's albums are released in Belgium, Scandinavia, Israel, Turkey and Italy, and she works with reputable international names like Glen Ballard (producer for Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion), Reggie Perry (Jay Z, John Legend), and Ryan Lesie (Mary J Blige). For her new album ‘Sad Singalong Songs’ Anouk again worked with Martin Gjerstad and Torre Johansson (Franz Ferdinand and The Cardigans). With these Swedish producers she also worked on her albums ‘For Bitter Or Worse’ and ‘To Get Her Together’. ‘Sad Singalong Songs’ is scheduled for worldwide digital release on May 17th. The Netherlands is proud to send one of its greatest, most talented and most experienced pop stars to the Eurovision Song Contest. Are Malmö and the rest of Europe ready to feel that musical lump in the throat?
