Anouk (singer)


Anouk Teeuwe, professionally known by the mononym Anouk, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. After her breakthrough in 1997 with the single "Nobody's Wife", she had numerous hit singles in the Dutch and Belgian charts, such as "R U Kiddin' Me", "Michel", "Girl", "Lost", "Modern World", "Three Days in a Row", and "Woman".
Anouk has released eleven studio albums to date, the most recent one being Fake It Till We Die, released on 21 October 2016. She represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Birds". Her song made it to the final – the first since 2004 for the Netherlands; and finished 9th with 114 points.

Biography

1970s to 2000s: Beginnings and breakthrough

Anouk Teeuwe was born on 8 April 1975, in The Hague, Netherlands. As a teenager, she experimented with drugs and ended up living in several care homes after she ran away from her family at the age of fourteen. Anouk's interest in music was triggered through her mother, who was a blues singer. Anouk gave her first performance at fifteen and sang at weddings and parties with the band Shotgun Wedding. She started attending the Rotterdam Conservatory in 1994 but dropped out two years later. In the same period, her then-husband and manager Edwin Jansen introduced Anouk to Golden Earring frontman Barry Hay. Hay believed her to have talent and offered to write some songs for her. One of those songs was "Mood Indigo"; written in collaboration with fellow Golden Earring member George Kooymans.
After she met Bart van Veen, her co-writer, the pair wrote a few songs. On 5 September 1997, she released her second single, "Nobody's Wife", which remained at the top of the Dutch music charts for a number of weeks and was also a hit in Norway and Sweden. Her debut album Together Alone turned out to be a huge success. In 1998, Anouk won two awards from Dutch music channel TMF in addition to an Edison Award. During the summer, she played at various festivals. Her second album Urban Solitude was released in November 1999, and included the single "R U Kiddin' Me". This song reached the Dutch Top 100. Shortly afterwards, Anouk went to the United States to pursue a record deal. Negotiations with her American label ended badly, causing her to return to the Netherlands without a deal. She released a new song, "Don't", and began touring the Netherlands in February 2001.
In March 2001, she released another album, Lost Tracks, which contained acoustic versions and B-sides from older songs, and various duets with K's Choice singer Sam Bettens and The Anonymous Mis. She was awarded the Popprijs award in 2001. In November 2002, the album Graduated Fool was released. This is the heaviest rock album in Anouk's career so far.
Anouk received a Golden Harp in 2003. The following full-length release is called Hotel New York and yielded a total of four singles: "Girl", "Lost", "Jerusalem" and "One Word". In 2006 she won the 3FM award for best Dutch female singer. In 2007, Anouk released Who's Your Momma, recorded with producer Glen Ballard. The first single, "Good God" was a success, and became a playable song in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008. In 2009 she released her album For Bitter or Worse. The song "Three Days in a Row" reached the first place in the Dutch charts.

2010s: Eurovision Song Contest participation

Anouk's album To Get Her Together was released in the Netherlands in May 2011. On 28 February 2011 Anouk placed one of the new tracks on YouTube named "Killer Bee". The first single of the album is called "Down & Dirty" and came out in April. On 27 June, Anouk released her single "I'm a Cliché". On 17 September 2011 "Save Me" was released as third single from the album. The fourth single is "What Have You Done".
Anouk performed at the GelreDome in Arnhem for her To Get Her Together Tour on 8 and 11 March 2012.
Anouk first revealed taking part in the festival on Facebook on 17 October 2012, after negotiations with broadcaster TROS. Her song was officially revealed on 11 March 2013. Anouk performed "Birds" in the first semi-final on 14 May 2013, where she progressed to the final on 18 May 2013. Anouk reached the 9th place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden on 18 May 2013 with her song "Birds". The Dutch broadly perceived her result to be a major achievement, as it was the best ranking for the Netherlands in 14 years and the first time in 9 years that any Dutch artist even made it to the finals.
Anouk wrote the 2015 Dutch entry called "Walk Along", performed by Trijntje Oosterhuis along with Swedish songwriter Tobias Karlsson.
In 2015, Anouk was a coach on the sixth season of the reality singing competition show The Voice of Holland. In 2016, Anouk released two albums: Queen for a Day, which included the lead single "Run Away Together", in March and Fake It Till We Die in late October.
In 2018 Anouk released her first Dutch-language-album; Wen d'r maar aan.

Musical style

Anouk's musical style has been described as a combination of Joan Osborne, Melissa Etheridge and Alanis Morissette. She is known for explosive rock songs like "Nobody's Wife" and "R U Kiddin' Me", but has also made small and fragile songs like "Lost" and "Michel". In addition to her pop/rock sound she also experiments with soul, funk and hip hop.

Personal life

Anouk was married to her manager Edwin Jansen until 1998. She married Remon Stotijn, frontman of the reggae/rap band Postmen, on 16 March 2004. Stotijn is the father of three of her children; son Benjahmin Kingsley, son Elijah Jeramiah and daughter Phoenix Ray. In May 2008, Anouk and Remon announced a "harmonious" mutual separation. In 2010 Anouk gave birth to her fourth child, a son named Jesiah Dox. Her son Sion Jethro was born in June 2014. In June 2016, she gave birth to her sixth child, a baby girl, Jelizah Rose, with her current partner, mixed martial artist and former basketball player Dominique Schemmekes.

Discography

;Dutch TMF Awards
YearNominated workAwardResult
1998"Nobody's Wife"Best New Single
1998HerselfBest Newcoming Act
2000Best Single
2000HerselfBest Female
2000HerselfBest Live Act
2000Best Videoclip
2003HerselfBest Female
2005HerselfBest Female National
2005Best Videoclip
2005HerselfArtist of the Decade
2006HerselfBest Female National
2006HerselfBest Rock Act
2006"DownHill" Best Video

In 2006, Dutch singer Marco Borsato joined Anouk in announcing their withdrawal from future TMF Awards-nominations. "Every year the same faces can get boring".
;Edison Awards
YearNominated workAwardResult
1998"Nobody's Wife"Best Videoclip
1998HerselfBest New Artist
1998HerselfBest Female Artist
2000HerselfBest Female Artist
2000HerselfBest Artist
2001"Michel"Best Single
2003HerselfBest Dutch Female
2006HerselfBest Dutch Female
2011HerselfBest Female Artist
2011To Get Her TogetherBest Album
2011"Down & Dirty"Best Song

;3FM Radio Awards
YearNominated workAwardResult
2005HerselfBest Female
2005"Girl"Best Single
2005HerselfBest Musician Voted by Colleagues
2006HerselfBest Female Singer
2008HerselfBest Female Singer
2008HerselfBest Rock Artist
2008Who's Your MommaBest Album
2010HerselfBest Female Singer
2010For Bitter or WorseBest Album
2011HerselfBest Live Act

;Belgian TMF Awards
YearNominated workAwardResult
2005HerselfBest International Female Artist
2005Hotel New YorkBest International Album
2005"Girl"Best International Video
2006HerselfBest International Live Act
2006HerselfBest International Female Artist

;MTV Europe Music Awards
YearNominated workAwardResult
2005HerselfBest Dutch/Belgian Act
2006HerselfBest Dutch Act

;Other Awards