Ivar de Graaf (born 20 August 1973) is the founder and drummer of the Dutch

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Kingfisher Sky Kingfisher Sky is a Dutch progressive metal band from Netherlands, created and led by drummer Ivar de Graaf (formerly of Within Temptation). History The history of Kingfisher Sky started in 2001, after drummer Ivar de Graaf left Within Temptati ...

, but best known as the former drummer of the popular Dutch metal band

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

Early career

Ivar de Graaf was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and began playing drums at the age of 11. De Graaf followed education at the Haags Montessori Lyceum 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 of ...

, and was taught to play drums by Charles Schouten who has been the drummer for

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for a short period of time. On the HML he frequently performed with Edo van der Kolk and Michiel Parqui around 1990.

Within Temptation

He was asked to be the drummer for

1996, at that the time the band was relatively unknown and began working on their first studio album. De Graaf was credited as the drummer on the Within Temptation albums ''

Enter Enter or ENTER may refer to: * Enter key, on computer keyboards * Enter, Netherlands, a village * ''Enter'' (magazine), an American technology magazine for children 1983–1985 * ''Enter'' (Finnish magazine), a Finnish computer magazine * Enter ...

'' and on their breakthrough album ''

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''. In 2002, just before the German tour in which followed the band to its international breakthrough, he left Within Temptation. This was for musical reasons, he wanted to play more various and challenging drum fills instead of the more similar he experienced in Within Temptation, and develop himself more as a composer an arranger. He was replaced by

Stephen van Haestregt Stephen van Haestregt (born 12 September 1972 in Westdorpe) is a Dutch drummer, best known as the drummer of the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation until his departure in 2010. During the mid-late 1990s,Van Haestregt was drummer with ...

De Graaf has performed with Within Temptation a few times after his departure. He filled in as a substitute at times when van Haestregt was unavailable, and at both the Java Concert in

in 2005 and at the Elements Concert in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 2012 he took on stage with other former Within Temptation band members and performed a couple of songs. He accompanied singer Sharon den Adel on acoustic guitar for Within Temptation's

Together at Home ''One World: Together at Home'' (also known as ''Together at Home'') is a benefit concert that was organized by Global Citizen of New York City and curated by singer Lady Gaga in support of the World Health Organization. The special was intended ...

concert on March 24, 2020.

Kingfisher Sky

De Graaf is married to singer Judith Rijnveld. Together they worked for three years on a demo which led to the formation of

. The first studio album has been released: Hallway of Dreams. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graaf, Ivar de 1973 births Living people Dutch drummers Male drummers Within Temptation members Musicians from Amsterdam 21st-century drummers