Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter.

Career

In 1967, she started a singing career in 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 ...

, performing songs in the 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 ...

tradition. In 1969, she represented the Netherlands 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 ...

with her composition "

De troubadour "De troubadour" ("The troubadour"), sung in Dutch by Lenny Kuhr representing the , was – together with "Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Un jour, un enfant", and "Vivo cantando" from, respectively, the , , and – one of the four winners of the Eurovision ...

" (lyrics by David Hartsema; orchestra conducted by Franz de Kok). She was one of the four winners that year. In the early seventies, Kuhr was more successful in France than in her home country. In 1970 she toured with

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

. Late 1971 she had a top 10 hit in France with "Jesus Christo". In 1980, she had her biggest hit in the Netherlands: "Visite", a song she performed with the French group

Les Poppys Les Poppys is a French musical group of 17 children founded 1946 in Asnières, France by Jean Amoureux as '' Les Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières'' and renamed to ''Les Poppys'' in 1970. Francois Bernheim, former singer of the group Les Roche-Mart ...

. She has been releasing records ever since, though without major chart success. Lenny Kuhr was one of the artists who recorded the song "Shalom from Holland" (written by

Simon Hammelburg Simon Hammelburg (Amsterdam, February 28, 1952 – Marbella, June 15, 2022) was a Dutch entertainer, songwriter, journalist, and The Holocaust, Holocaust educator. He died in Marbella 15 June 2022. Prior to the first Gulf War (1991) Hammelb ...

and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in 1991. Lenny Kuhr performed "

" during the interval of the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday 22 May 2021 in Rotterdam, in a segment called "Rock the Roof", together with other Eurovision winners.

Personal life

Kuhr's first marriage was in 1974 to an Israeli doctor, whom she met after she had her nose damaged in an attack in May 1973, in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

. Her new husband repaired her nose and Kuhr converted to Judaism. She had two daughters with her first husband, one in 1975 and the second in 1980. She also lived in Israel for a while. After her divorce, Kuhr was romantically involved with songwriter

Herman Pieter de Boer Herman Pieter de Boer (9 February 1928 – 1 January 2014), also known as Johnny Austerlitz, was a Dutch writer, journalist and lyricist, whose career spanned over 55 years. Born in Rotterdam, South Holland, de Boer began his writing caree ...

, from 1981 to 1993. She was married for a second time in 2003.

Discography

*1969: ''Lenny Kuhr'' *1971: ''De zomer achterna'' *1972: ''Tout ce que j'aime / Les enfants'' *1972: ''De wereld waar ik van droom'' *1974: ''God laat ons vrij'' *1976: n Dag als vandaag'' *1980: ''Dromentrein'' *1981: ''Avonturen'' *1982: ''Oog in oog'' *1983: ''De beste van Lenny Kuhr'' (compilation album) *1986: ''Quo vadis'' *1988: ''Lenny Kuhr'' (compilation album) *1990: ''Het beste van Lenny Kuhr'' (compilation album) *1990: ''De blauwe nacht'' *1992: ''Heilig vuur'' *1994: ''Altijd heimwee'' *1997: ''Gebroken stenen'' (also released in German as Gebrochene Steine) *1997: ''Stemmen in de nacht'' *1999: ''Oeverloze liefde'' *2000: ''Visite'' (compilation album) *2001: ''Hollands glorie'' (compilation album) *2001: ''Fadista'' *2004: ''Op de grens van jou en mij'' *2005: ''Panta Rhei'' *2007: ''40 Jaar verliefd'' (live album) *2010: ''Hollands glorie'' (compilation album) *2010: ''Mijn liedjes mijn leven'' (CD/DVD boxset) *2011: ''Liefdeslied'' *2013: ''Wie ben je'' *2017: ''Gekust door de eeuwigheid'' *2019: ''Het lied gaat door'' *2021: ''Favorieten Expres'' (compilation album) *2022: ''Lenny Kuhr''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhr, Lenny 1950 births Living people Converts to Judaism Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Dutch expatriates in Israel Dutch women singers Dutch Jews Dutch singer-songwriters Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1969 Eurovision Song Contest winners Jewish Dutch musicians Musicians from Eindhoven Philips Records artists Nationaal Songfestival contestants Nationaal Songfestival presenters