Claire Vanhonnacker (

Waregem Waregem (; vls, Woaregem), sometimes known as Waereghem, is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the river Leie, between Kortrijk and Ghent. It is part of the arrondiss ...

, 17 October 1953 –

Buggenhout Buggenhout () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of Buggenhout proper, Briel, Opdorp, and . In 2021, Buggenhout had a total population of 14,689. The total area is ...

, 8 November 1992), also known by her artist name Claire, was a Belgian singer. She is best known for her Dutch interpretation of

Larry Weiss Laurence D. "Larry" Weiss (born March 25, 1941) is an American songwriter and musician. He wrote "Rhinestone Cowboy", a US no.1 hit for Glen Campbell in 1975; and co-wrote "Bend Me, Shape Me", "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and several other international ...

’

Rhinestone Cowboy "Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. When released on May 26, 1975, as the lead single and title track from his album ''Rhinestone Cowboy'', it enjoyed huge popularity w ...

as ‘Vreemde Vogels’ and ‘Op de purp’re hei’. She lived in

Deerlijk Deerlijk (; vls, Deirlyk) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality only comprises the town of Deerlijk proper. On January 1, 2006, Deerlijk had a total population of 11,310. The total area is 16.82 ...

Biography

Claire began her career by singing in churches and at small events. Until 1970 she participated in a number of competitions until she decided to become a professional singer. Her first and biggest success was ‘Vreemde Vogels’ which sold over 70000 records. In the summer of 1975 this song hit the number one of the Flemish top 10 hit chart and even ended up in the BRT Top 30 chart. She said farewell to showbiz in 1980 to focus more on her family. She died in a car accident in Buggenhout in 1992.

Bibliography

* M. Adriaens, ''De komplete kleinkunstgeschiedenis'', Uitgeverij Globe/Roularta Books, Roeselare, 1998 * M. Adriaens, ''Ik hou van jou - Het verhaal van de Vlaamse showbizz'', Uitgeverij Lannoo, Tielt, 2000 * M. Adriaens, ''Blijven kijken!, vijftig jaar televisie in Vlaanderen'', Uitgeverij Lannoo, Tielt, 2003 * M. Dickmans en M. Bungeneers, ''De Vlaamse show-encyclopedie'', Uitgeverij Pandora Publishers, Brasschaat, 2009 * A. Rypens, ''The originals: de herkomst van de hits'', Uitgeverij Vox, Lier, 2000 * L. Tack, ''Claire, de Deerlijkse nachtegaal'', artikel in het tijdschrift Derlike, jaargang XXX, 2 (2007) p. 35-46, uitgave Heemkring Dorp en Toren, Deerlijk

External links

Vreemde Vogels in the Top 30 chart of Radio 2

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanhonnacker, Claire 1953 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Belgian women singers 20th-century Belgian singers Dutch-language singers of Belgium People from Waregem Road incident deaths in Belgium