Anouk Schemmekes (, ; born 8 April 1975), professionally known by the
mononym
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
Anouk, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. After her 1997 breakthrough rock single ''
Nobody's Wife'', she had hit records in the Dutch and Belgian charts. Many of her albums topped the Dutch album charts; most of them going Platinum and several debuting in the number 1 position. Her most famous singles include: ''R U Kiddin' Me'', ''Michel'', ''Girl'', ''Lost'', ''Modern World'', ''
Three Days in a Row'', ''Birds'', and ''Woman''.
Anouk had released thirteen studio albums by 2022, a mix of anglophonic
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
,
pop and
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
;
one of which was recorded in the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, produced by
Glen Ballard
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Alb ...
. In recent years, she has expanded into Dutch, more
folky lyrics. Her 2022 album, was called ''"Trails of Fails"''.
Anouk
represented the Netherlands at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013
The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...
in
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
,
Sweden, with the song
"Birds". Her song made it to the final – the first time since 2004 for the Netherlands, finished 9th with 114 points, and scored her another big domestic hit.
Biography
1970s to 2000s: Beginnings and breakthrough
![Anouk at fesival mundial 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Anouk_at_fesival_mundial_2008.JPG)
Anouk Teeuwe was born on 8 April 1975, in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
, Netherlands. As a teenager, she used 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
The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures.
People
* Edwin of Northumbria (die ...
introduced Anouk to
Golden Earring
Golden Earring (originally known as The Tornados) was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on t ...
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
George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948, The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote " Twilight Zone", the group's only Top 10 Pop Single on the US ' ...
.
After she met
Bart van Veen
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barth ...
, 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 a hit in Norway and Sweden. Her debut album ''
Together Alone
''Together Alone'' is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-Australian recording artists Crowded House. It was released in October 1993 and was their first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full band member. Unlike the band ...
'' turned out to be a huge success. In 1998, Anouk won two awards from Dutch music channel
TMF in addition to an
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...
. 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
R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irelan ...
". 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
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
(Sony) 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.
![Anouk op Lowlands 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Anouk_op_Lowlands_2006.jpg)
In March 2001, she released, ''
Lost Tracks'', which contained acoustic versions and B-sides from older songs, and various duets with
K's Choice
K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are brothers Sam Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyc ...
singer
Sam Bettens
Sam Bettens (born in 1972) is a Belgian musician and the lead singer of the Belgian band K's Choice.
In May 2019, he came out as a transgender man.
Career K's Choice
In the mid-1990s, Bettens formed the band K's Choice with his brother Ge ...
and
The Anonymous Mis. She was awarded the
Popprijs award in 2001. In November 2002, the album ''
Graduated Fool'' was released. This was the heaviest rock album in Anouk's career so far.
Anouk received a
Golden Harp
The Golden Harp ''(Dutch: Gouden Harp)'' is awarded annually to Dutch musicians for their entire oeuvre. Golden Harps have been awarded 42 times. 149 different persons or (musical) groups have had the honour of receiving the award which is conside ...
in 2003. The following full-length release is called ''
Hotel New York
''Hotel New York'' is the fourth studio album recorded by the Dutch pop/ rock singer Anouk and released on December 3, 2004, in the Netherlands. The album is named for the location where Anouk wrote all its songs: Hotel New York in Rotterdam. De ...
'' (2004) and yielded a total of four singles: "Girl", "Lost", "Jerusalem" and "One Word". In 2006, she won the
3FM
NPO 3FM is a Dutch rhythmic CHR radio station controlled by public broadcaster NPO. The vast majority of the songs played on-air are rock, alternative, indie and pop, though dance and Mega Top 30 tracks may also air at times.
History
As R ...
award for best Dutch female singer. In 2007, Anouk released ''
Who's Your Momma
''Who's Your Momma'' is the fifth studio album by Netherlands, Dutch pop rock singer Anouk (singer), Anouk. It was released on 23 November 2007 in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is her first studio album of new material since ''Hotel New York'' in ...
'', recorded with producer
Glen Ballard
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Alb ...
. The first single, "
Good God" was a success, and became a playable song in the video game ''
Guitar Hero World Tour
''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...
'' in 2008. In 2009, she released her album ''
For Bitter or Worse
For or FOR may refer to:
English language
*For, a preposition
*For, a complementizer
*For, a grammatical conjunction
Science and technology
* Fornax, a constellation
* for loop, a programming language statement
* Frame of reference, in physic ...
''. The song "
Three Days in a Row" reached the first place in the Dutch charts.
2010s: Eurovision Song Contest participation and subsequent projects
![ESC2013 - Netherlands 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/ESC2013_-_Netherlands_02.jpg)
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
The GelreDome () is a football stadium in the city of Arnhem, Netherlands. It is one of the largest and most modern stadiums in the country, built from 1996 to 1998 at a cost equivalent to €75 million, that opened on 25 March 1998. The stadium ...
in
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
for her ''To Get Her Together Tour'' on 8 and 11 March 2012.
Anouk first revealed that she would be taking part in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013
The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...
on 17 October 2012 via a post on Facebook, after negotiations with broadcaster
TROS
Tros or TROS may refer to:
* 18281 Tros, an asteroid
* Transformer read-only storage, a type of read-only memory
* TROS, a Dutch broadcasting union, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting
* Tros (mythology)
In Greek mytholo ...
. Her song was officially revealed on 11 March 2013. Anouk performed "Birds" in the first semi-final on 14 May, where she progressed to the final on 18 May and eventually reached 9th place there with her song "
Birds". The Dutch broadly perceived her result to be a major achievement, as it was the best Eurovision result for the Netherlands in 14 years and the first time in 9 years that any Dutch entrant had qualified for the final of the contest. Her backing singer,
Shirma Rouse
Shirma Rouse is a Dutch singer, who was a participant in ''The Voice of Holland,'' was named best backing singer in the Eurovision Song Contest by ''The Eurovision Times'' in 2013 and was invited to the funeral of Aretha Franklin due to the popul ...
, was named best backing singer by ''The Eurovision Times.''
Anouk wrote the
2015 Dutch entry "
Walk Along
The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Walk Along" written by Tobias Karlsson and Anouk Teeuwe. The song was performed by Trijntje Oosterhuis, who was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTRO ...
", performed by
Trijntje Oosterhuis
Judith Katrijntje "Trijntje" Oosterhuis (; born 5 February 1973) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She formed the band Total Touch in 1990 with her brother Tjeerd Oosterhuis before she started as a solo singer. She represented the Netherlands i ...
, along with Swedish songwriter
Tobias Karlsson.
Anouk was a coach on ''
The Voice of Holland
''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality TV singing competition, that became a near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician Roel van Velzen, in the Netherlands airing on RTL 4.
...
'' for seasons 6 and 8 through 12 before resigning in January 2022 as a result of sexual misconduct allegations beleaguering the show.
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
Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...
,
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...
and
Alanis Morissette.
[Anouk Bio.](_blank)
Muziek Centrum Nederland. She is known for explosive rock songs like "
Nobody's Wife" and ''
R U kiddin' me
R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irelan ...
'', 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 has six children. She was married to her manager
Edwin Jansen
The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures.
People
* Edwin of Northumbria (die ...
until 1998. She married
Remon Stotijn
Remon Stotijn (born 27 December 1975), known professionally as Postman or The Anonymous Mis, is a Dutch rapper and record producer, who is a member of the band Postmen.
Biography
Remon Stotijn was born on December 27, 1975, in Rotterdam, the Ne ...
(aka The Anonymous Mis), frontman of the reggae/rap band
Postmen, on 16 March 2004. Stotijn is the father of three of her children; son Benjahmin Kingsley (b. 18 April 2002), son Elijah Jeramiah (b. 5 December 2003) and daughter Phoenix Ray (b. 3 June 2005). 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
mixed martial artist
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...
and former
basketball player
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
Dominique Schemmekes, whom she married in June 2022.
Discography
* ''
Together Alone
''Together Alone'' is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-Australian recording artists Crowded House. It was released in October 1993 and was their first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full band member. Unlike the band ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Urban Solitude'' (1999)
* ''
Graduated Fool'' (2002)
* ''
Hotel New York
''Hotel New York'' is the fourth studio album recorded by the Dutch pop/ rock singer Anouk and released on December 3, 2004, in the Netherlands. The album is named for the location where Anouk wrote all its songs: Hotel New York in Rotterdam. De ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Who's Your Momma?'' (2007)
* ''
For Bitter or Worse
For or FOR may refer to:
English language
*For, a preposition
*For, a complementizer
*For, a grammatical conjunction
Science and technology
* Fornax, a constellation
* for loop, a programming language statement
* Frame of reference, in physic ...
'' (2009)
* ''
To Get Her Together'' (2011)
* ''
Sad Singalong Songs
''Sad Singalong Songs'' is the eighth studio album by Dutch singer Anouk. The album was released on 17 May 2013 by her own record label Goldilox. On 27 December 2012, Anouk released the song "Stardust" via her own YouTube-channel as a preview to ...
'' (2013)
* ''
Paradise and Back Again'' (2014)
* ''Queen for a Day'' (2016)
* ''Fake It Till We Die'' (2016)
* ''Wen d'r maar aan'' (2018)
* ''Trails of Fails'' (2022)
Awards and nominations
;
Dutch TMF Awards
In 2006, Dutch singer
Marco Borsato
Marco Roberto Borsato (; born 21 December 1966) is a Dutch singer. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, he started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He has consistently been one of the most successful and biggest grossing arti ...
joined Anouk in announcing their withdrawal from future TMF Awards-nominations. "Every year the same faces can get boring".
;
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...
s
;3FM Radio Awards
;
Belgian TMF Awards
;
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
;Other Awards
*Noorderslag Popprijs 2001
*
Golden Harp
The Golden Harp ''(Dutch: Gouden Harp)'' is awarded annually to Dutch musicians for their entire oeuvre. Golden Harps have been awarded 42 times. 149 different persons or (musical) groups have had the honour of receiving the award which is conside ...
2003
*Two medals (best female and single international "Girl") on Humo's Pop Poll 2005 Belgium
*Duiveltje 2004 (best female singer)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anouk
1975 births
Dutch pop singers
Dutch rock singers
Dutch soul singers
English-language singers from the Netherlands
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2013
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Women post-grunge singers
Women rock singers
Living people
Musicians from The Hague
20th-century Dutch women singers
21st-century Dutch women singers
21st-century Dutch singers
Dutch people of Frisian descent