Rob de Nijs is a Dutch singer and actor, active since the 1960s.
Biography
1962-68
De Nijs, backed by The Lords, won a talent-contest in 1962 and released his first single in 1962, Ritme van de Regen. In 1965 De Nijs split from The Lords because they signed their own record-deal at another label; he embarked on a joint circus-tour with Johnny Lion. By 1967, De Nijs was a free agent; he performed at small venues and worked as a bartender for a living. His attempts to keep up with the zeitgeist, including Bye Bye Mrs. Turple, failed; he only made the headlines by marrying his girlfriend Elly in 1968.
1969-72
In 1969 De Nijs took part in the Dutch heat of the Eurovision Song Contest and through musicals like Sajjuns Fiksjen he landed himself a role in children's TV-series Oebele. This was followed in 1972 by Hamelen in which he played Bertram Bierenbroodspot.
1973-79
Singer Boudewijn de Groot and songwriter Lennaert Nijgh helped De Nijs relaunch his singing career; in 1973 he was back in the charts with Jan Klaassen de Trompetter. The hits continued through 1975-1976, notably Malle Babbe and Zet een Kaars voor Je Raam. In 1977 De Nijs released Tussen Zomer en Winter, a concept-album chronicling the change from a hot summer's day to a cold winter's night and featuring translations of Lou Reed's Perfect Day and The Beach Boys' Disney Girls .
1980s
In 1980 De Nijs released Met Je Ogen Dicht which included the top 10-hit Zondag and became the country's best-selling album of the year. He met Belinda Meuldijk who gave up her own singing-career to become his chief-songwriter and his second wife. The first efforts of their collaboration were collected in 1981 on the albumDe Regen Voorbij. In 1985 De Nijs had a Christmas #2-hit with the peace-anthem Alles Wat Ademt; the English version, Let Love Be The Answer, would also be recorded by US-exile singer Joe Bourne for his Bourne in Holland-album of translated covers. In 1986 De Nijs released an album of covers from the 1950s/1960s-era; it included his version of Living Doll shortly after the Comic Relief-remake topped the charts. In 1987 he celebrated his silver jubilee; he re-recorded Ritme van de Regen for a Best Of-album and made a guest-appearance in television-series De Band as himself. In 1989 De Nijs released De Reiziger featuring the bilingual duet Ik Hou Alleen Van Jou. At the end of the year he wore his Bertram Bierenbroodspot-outfit again for a reunion with the leading-actors of Hamelen.
1990s
In 1990 Stranger In Your Land was released, his first album of English originals plus translations of Zonder Jou, Bo and Toerist In Het Paradijs which became the title-track. The former ended up as the B-side of the Girls For Sale-single. In 1992, De Nijs appeared as a judge during the finale of the :nl:Kinderen voor Kinderen festival, where he also performed the VIP-version of Allemaal kabaal with 2 children's choirs, and De Blokskes from St. Genesius-Rode, Flanders. In 1996 De Nijs scored his first #1-hit with a remix of Banger Hart.
2000-present
De Nijs entered the first decade of the 21st century with a knighthood and released albums with translations of meaningful Christmas-songs and French chansons. Meanwhile, he separated from Meuldijk after twenty years; he married for the third time and became a father again. De Nijs was 70 when he welcomed his third son Julius. In 2010 De Nijs released the back-to-basics-album Eindelijk Vrij which he recorded in the US. In 2012 he embarked on his 50th anniversary tour. In 2014 De Nijs released an album called Nieuwe Ruimte with contributions from well-known songwriters as Jan Rot, Boudewijn de Groot and Daniel Lohues; the latter two reprising their earlier collaborations. In 2016 De Nijs was honoured with the Radio 5 Oeuvre Award and a tribute-concert. In 2017 De Nijs released Niet voor het laatst; on this album he collaborated with Meuldijk again and sang a duet with his son Robbert In September 2019, De Nijs announced his retirement from performing after being diagnosed Parkinson's disease. A farewell-tour and a new album were scheduled for 2020. On March 31, 2020 he appeared on the demissionary talkshow De Wereld Draait Door to perform two new songs.
