Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs (born 28 December 1947), better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde, is a retired

Dutch Australian Dutch Australians refers to Australians of Dutch ancestry. They form one of the largest groups of the Dutch diaspora outside Europe. At the 2021 census, 381,946 people nominated Dutch ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ance ...

bass guitarist. He was a founding mainstay member of 1960s rock group

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with the 1966 sing ...

. Diamonde, with the group, was inducted into the

ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Early years

Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs was born in 1947 in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, Netherlands. His father is Harry van der Sluijs (also seen as Vandersluys) and he has a younger sister. Diamonde emigrated with his family from the Netherlands to Australia when he was four years old. Diamonde was raised in a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

family, living in the suburb of Villawood near the migrant hostel of that name.

The Easybeats

Widely regarded as Australia's greatest pop group of the mid-1960s,

had their beginnings in Sydney's Villawood Migrant Hostel. All of the five founding members were migrants to Australia from Europe. In mid-1964 the group were formed by van der Sluys (renamed as Dick Diamonde) on bass guitar, he was joined by fellow Dutchman, Johannes van den Berg (known as

Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easy ...

) on lead guitar and vocals, George Young from Scotland on guitar and vocals, and two Englishmen: lead singer

Stevie Wright Stephen Carlton Wright (20 December 1947 – 27 December 2015) was an Australian musician and songwriter who has been called Australia's first international pop star. During 1964–69, he was lead singer of Sydney-based rock and roll band the E ...

(Yorkshire) and drummer, Snowy Fleet (Liverpool). By October 1969 the Easybeats had disbanded and according to Young, Diamonde was "having a ball just being Dick." In that same month his mother reflected, "He has given up the faith... We never encouraged him to follow this life. As Jehovah's Witnesses we do not believe in creature worship... It is not right the children idolise him." In September 1986 Diamonde participated in a reunion of the Easybeats for a series of concerts touring Australian capitals in the following two months. According to

Stuart Coupe Stuart Coupe (born 11 September 1956) is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. He is best known for his work as a rock writer with Roadrunner (Australian music magazine), RAM (Rock Aus ...

of ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' Diamonde had been "playing with a series of small-time bands up the north-east coast." The group was inducted into the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamonde, Dick 1947 births Living people Australian bass guitarists Australian rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Dutch emigrants to Australia People from Hilversum Former Jehovah's Witnesses The Easybeats members Australian male guitarists