Jacoba Adriana Hollestelle (16 January 1937 – 7 April 2002), known professionally as Conny Vandenbos, was a popular

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

singer. She had her first radio hit in 1966 and continued to make hit recordings throughout the 1970s. She represented the Netherlands in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1965 The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European ...

with the song " 't Is genoeg".

Career

Vandenbos made her solo debut in the

KRO KRO, or (Catholic Radio Broadcasting), was a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcast the bulk of its television output on the NPO 1 channel. KRO was also responsi ...

radio programme ''Springplank'', a showcase for young talent, in which she performed French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s. After her performance at the Belgian ''Knokkefestival'' in 1961, Conny signed a recording contract with

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

. In 1964, she made a television series ''Zeg maar Conny'' ("Call me Conny") for the Dutch public broadcaster

NCRV NCRV (Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging) (English: Dutch Christian Radio Association) was a public radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting on NPO 1 and NPO 2. On 1 January 2014, NCRV merged with KRO to for ...

. In 1965, she represented the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

held in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, with the song " 't Is genoeg", finishing in eleventh place. One year later, Vandenbos finally achieved chart success with her first hit single, "Ik ben gelukkig zonder jou". In 1974, Conny parted company from Philips and signed with Basart Records. During her contract at Basart, several albums were released, such as ''Een Vrouw Van Deze Tijd'' and ''Zo wil ik leven''. A number of her singles, "Sjakie Van De Hoek", "Drie Zomers Lang" and "Ome Arie", charted on the Dutch pop charts. During this period, many of her hits were Dutch translations of foreign songs including her highest charting song "Een Roosje, M'n Roosje", which was a translation of "

Daisy a Day "Daisy a Day" is a song written and performed by Jud Strunk. It was produced by Mike Curb and Don Costa and Costa also was the arranger. It reached #4 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart, #14 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart, and #33 on the U ...

" by

Jud Strunk Justin Roderick Strunk Jr. (June 11, 1936 – October 5, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter and comedian. Biography Early years Born in Jamestown, New York, United States, he was raised in Buffalo, New York, where as a small boy his sh ...

. She also released a German version of the song. In 1980, while back with Philips Records, Conny released an album of songs by

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...

titled ''Conny Vandenbos zingt Janis Ian''. A duet with

, "Don't Leave Tonight", reached number 17 in the Dutch charts in December 1980. In 1976, she received an Edison

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 ...

for the album ''Zo wil ik leven''. In 1993, she was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for her album ''De'' ''14 grootste hits van Conny Vandenbos''. In the 1990s, her singing career was put on hold due to lack of record sales and to her other activities, such as hosting radio shows at various national and regional radio stations (Radio Noordzee and Radio West). Vandenbos presented the Dutch televoting result at the

1998 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster ...

. In 2000, she was honoured with a tile in the Rotterdam Walk Of Fame.

Personal life

In 1959 Conny married Wim van den Bos. The couple had a daughter. In 1965 this marriage ended, but since she was now known under the name Conny van den Bos, she decided to keep that name. However, the name was now written together as Conny Vandenbos. She now considered this a stage name, no longer the name of her ex-husband. Her second marriage was to Ger Faber, bass player of the band

Leedy Trio Leedy is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Denoe Leedy (1900–1964), American classical pianist, music educator and music journalist *Gene Leedy (1928–2018), American architect * Harold Gavin Leedy (1892–1989), American Fe ...

, with whom she had one son. In 1971, Vandenbos moved to

Hoevelaken Hoevelaken is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Nijkerk, and lies about 5 km east of Amersfoort. Hoevelaken was a separate municipality until 2000, when it was merged with Nijkerk. History It w ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. Conny Vandenbos died 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 ...

on 7 April 2002, two weeks after it was announced that she was suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

References

External links

*
AllMusic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenbos, Conny 1937 births 2002 deaths Musicians from The Hague 20th-century Dutch women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1965 Nationaal Songfestival contestants