Werner Ferdinande (9 March 1927 – 8 November 2022), known as Will Ferdy, was a Belgian singer. He became known for the songs ''Christine'', ''Belijdenis'', ''De stervende'', ', and ', which is a song, based on the poet with the same name, by

Guido Gezelle Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect. Life Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...

. He was a figurehead within the gay community, because he was the first Flemish singer to come out. He received the

Gay Krant ''Gay Krant'' was a Dutch magazine written for the gay community, published every month since 1980. It was published by the Best Publishing Group under leadership of Henk Krol. The magazine has its headquarters in Amsterdam. After a bankruptcy in ...

award in 2006. Earlier in his career, Ferdy was also active as a comedian. https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20221108_96675594 Ferdy suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. He died in Antwerp on 8 November 2022, at the age of 95.

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* * 1927 births 2022 deaths Belgian male singers Belgian male comedians Dutch-language singers of Belgium Belgian LGBT singers People from Ghent 20th-century Belgian people {{Belgium-singer-stub