Robert Westerholt (born 2 January 1975) is a Dutch musician, known as the guitarist and co-founder of the

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

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 ...

. He also writes music for the band along with his partner and band vocalist Sharon den Adel. He used to work in

human resource management Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

before his career with Within Temptation.

Work prior to Within Temptation

Westerholt was born in

Waddinxveen Waddinxveen () is a town and municipality along the Gouwe (river), Gouwe river in the western Netherlands in the province of South Holland near Gouda, South Holland, Gouda. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

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 1992, Westerholt formed the band "The Circle" with future Within Temptation keyboard player

Martijn Spierenburg Martijn Spierenburg (born 30 January 1975) is a composer and arranger. He is also keyboard player for the Dutch symphonic rock band Within Temptation. In 2018, it was announced that he would be the composer for the musical "Nieuw Amsterdam", which ...

, In a 1995 compilation album released by

DSFA Records DSFA Records was a Dutch record label. The name stands for "Doesn't Stand For Anything". Known bands for the label are Within Temptation, Trail Of Tears and The Gauntlet. The label has been defunct for several years. See also * List of record ...

, two songs, "Broken Silence" and "Frozen" by The Circle, were featured. Soon afterward, Westerholt left The Circle, and the band was renamed as Voyage. Voyage released their only album 'Embrace' in 1995, in which Sharon den Adel collaborated on the track "Frozen".

Within Temptation

After leaving The Circle, Westerholt began writing more music for a new musical project with his girlfriend, Sharon den Adel. Westerholt sent demo versions of their songs 'Enter' and 'Candles' to former Voyage bandmate Jeroen van Veen, who then left Voyage to join Westerholt's project, along with Michiel Papenhove. Their first drummer was Richard Willemse, who left and was replaced with Dennis Leeflang, with whom Within Temptation recorded their first demo. He left soon afterward and was replaced with Ivar de Graaf. Westerholt recalls that "we always had a little bit of a drummer problem, leaving and coming back again...". By 1997, their line-up had been completed, with Sharon (vocals), Westerholt (guitars and vocals), Westerholt's brother Martijn (keyboards), Jeroen (bass), Michiel (guitar) and Ivar (drums). In the same year, Within Temptation were signed to DSFA Records and released their debut album, Enter. As of 2011, Westerholt has stepped down from touring with Within Temptation in order to take care of his and Den Adel's children. He is still a recording band member, however, and will focus on songwriting and production. Stefan Helleblad, who has been working behind the scenes with the band, is his live stand-in.

Other appearances

In 1998, he had a small singing part as Death (along with

George Oosthoek George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

) on the

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electro ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double a ...

", on which Sharon den Adel played one of the main characters.

Personal life

Westerholt and Sharon den Adel became parents to Eva Luna on 7 December 2005 and Robin Aiden on 1 June 2009. The birth of their son, Logan Arwin, was announced on 31 March 2011.Sharon: Important news… , Within Temptation
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerholt, Robert 1975 births Living people Dutch heavy metal guitarists Dutch male guitarists Dutch singer-songwriters People from Waddinxveen Within Temptation members