Leendert "Leen" HuijzerOON, better known by his stage name Lee Towers, is a multi-award-winning Dutch singer. He remains one of the best-selling artist of the Netherlands and holds a record for performing the most concerts for a single artist at the Rotterdam Ahoy making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Career
His performing range has included pop, show tunes, country, soul and gospel. He was discovered in 1975 as "The Singing Crane Mechanic", while laboring as a dockworker in Rotterdam. His music has charted in the Netherlands' music charts very successfully from the early 1970s up until the present day. He is well known in the Netherlands for bringing large theatrical performances to his fans in the style of Las Vegas shows. He holds a record in the Netherlands for performing the most concerts for a single artist at one single venue. Since the 1980s, Lee has held 50 gala performances at Rotterdam Ahoy, a multi-purpose arena, which now hosts a bronze bust of him at the entrance. Lee Towers was initially part of the show orchestra Len Hauser & The Drifting Five and broke through in 1975 when he was presented by Willem Duys as the singing crane operator from Rotterdam. He made his first single under the name Leen Huizer. Later, around 1971, there was the Dutch single Nina Nina Nina, which he released under the name Len Hauser. Willem Duys released the first singleperformed under the name Lee Towers in the radio program Music Mosaic. It was It's raining in my heart, a song composed by the lead singer of The Outsiders, Wally Tax. It's raining in my heart made it to the charts. The next single, You'll never walk alone, became Towers' biggest hit and was in the top 10 for weeks. Lee Towers gave his first major concert in De Doelen in Rotterdam in 1980, a unique achievement for the time. In 1981 a concert followed in a sold out venue. Then he took the step to Ahoy in 1984 where he produced a sold out show twice. In later years many concerts and shows followed in Ahoy, where he also sang duets with Anita Meyer and others. In 2003 Towers starred in the Dutch youth 'film Sinterklaas and the Danger in the Valley' by director Martijn van Nellestijn. Towers is known as a great Feyenoord supporter. His songs Mijn Feyenoord and You never walk alone are played a lot in De Kuip and have become real club songs. If Feyenoord has won an important prize, Lee Towers will never sing You walk alone during the ceremony on the Coolsingel. On January 27, 2013, the documentary Lee Towers: The Voice Of Rotterdam premiered during the Rotterdam Film Festival. Filmmaker Hans Heijnen followed Towers for the project with the camera for a year. Lee Towers with Glennis Grace, is the only one who has performed at three different Toppers in Concert editions. At the end of 2016, De Toppers released a Christmas single: A very happy Christmas. Lee plays an extra role in the accompanying video clip. In 2018 he participated in the television program Best Singers. He performed a cover of 'What about us' by Pink and recorded as a single soon after. His best-known hits are "You'll Never Walk Alone", Olympic Games and "I Can See Clearly Now". On 1 November 2011 Towers returned to "Ahoy" for "One Night Only", a special concert commemorating his 35 years in the entertainment business, as well as his 51st Vegas-style concert in the venue, in front of 12,000 fans. Towers had performed in many places around the world over his 40 years.
Awards
The city of Rotterdam awarded him the Erasmus pin in 1990 and the Wolfert van Borselen medal in 2000. In 2017 he received the Edison Oeuvre Prize for his enormous oeuvre and extraordinary achievements for Dutch music. On November 13, 2019, Lee Towers opened the residential towers in Rotterdam named after him. In 2006, he was awarded a Society Award along with Bridget Maasland. He was awarded the title "Ambassador of Rotterdam Port" as well as becoming "Ambassador for Feyenoord Football Club 2005.". He has received many other awards for his charity work and music achievements
Albums
Singles
Dvd's
Live Albums
Lee Towers in Concert 1983 Gala of the Year 1984 Live at Ahoy 1987 Gala of the year- Live with guests 1990
Compilation Albums
The Best of Lee Towers 1979 Simply the Best 1980 One Hour of Golden Songs 1984 Greatest Hits 1986 The Story of Lee Towers 1987
