Willem Bijkerk (; born 20 April 1980), known professionally as Waylon, is a Dutch singer. His stage name came from the name of his idol Waylon Jennings. He represented the Netherlands with

Ilse DeLange Ilse Annoeska de Lange (born 13 May 1977), better known as Ilse DeLange, is a Dutch country and pop rock singer-songwriter. As a member of The Common Linnets, she finished in second place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Biography Ilse An ...

as part of the Common Linnets at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, finishing in second place in the final. He represented the Netherlands again as a solo artist in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and finished in 18th place.

Career

Waylon started his career in 1995 singing in the television program '' Telekids'' where he sang the chorus of the song "Harry Stallion." Since childhood he was inspired by country music and he played the drums with the band West Virginian Railroad. He was signed in 1997 by EMI and went to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

to record an album. The album was never completed. In 2001, he lived and worked for a year in the United States where he also performed with his idol, Waylon Jennings. After Jennings died in 2002, Waylon returned to the Netherlands. Waylon's talent was further developed with Lisa Boray. After returning from the United States, he joined the cover band Santa Rosa. He also sang in the band Millstreet. In 2005, Waylon and Rachel Kramer performed as the duo Rachel & Waylon in the preliminary rounds of the National Song Contest with the song "Leven als een beest."

Breakthrough

Waylon took part in the first season of '' Holland's Got Talent'' on SBS 6 in 2008. He auditioned with the song " It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. He received positive feedback from jurors Henkjan Smits and

Patricia Paay Patricia Anglaia Margareth Paaij (born 7 April 1949), best known as Patricia Paay, is a Dutch singer, radio host, glamour model and television personality. In the Netherlands, she is well known for her musical career, which spans over four deca ...

. Waylon reached the final and finished second. A year later, Universal Music signed Waylon as the first Dutchman to the Motown label. His first single, "Wicked Way", was released on 7 August 2009 as a preview of the album ''Wicked Ways'', released later that month. "Wicked Way" reached the top 10 in the Dutch Top 40 charts. In April 2010, Waylon won his first major music award, a

3FM NPO 3FM is a Dutch rhythmic CHR radio station controlled by public broadcaster NPO. The vast majority of the songs played on-air are rock, alternative, indie and pop, though dance and Mega Top 30 tracks may also air at times. History As Ra ...

Award for "Best Newcomer". A month later he received in a gold record for his debut album on the television program ''De Wereld Draait Door''. In June 2010, Waylon was one of the winners of the TMF Awards, winning the Borsato Award for new talent. The prize was awarded to him by the namesake, Marco Borsato, at the TMF Awards Festival in Enschede. Waylon released "The Escapist" in October 2011 as the first single from his second album, ''After All'', which was released on 3 November 2011. This was followed by the singles "Lose It" and "Lucky Night". Waylon was voted best singer in the April 2012 3FM Awards.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Together with singer

Ilse Delange Ilse Annoeska de Lange (born 13 May 1977), better known as Ilse DeLange, is a Dutch country and pop rock singer-songwriter. As a member of The Common Linnets, she finished in second place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Biography Ilse An ...

, Waylon was the Dutch entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen. The two formed the duo The Common Linnets and sang the country/ bluegrass song " Calm After the Storm". They won second place with a total of 238 points behind Conchita Wurst from Austria, who scored 290 points. Waylon last performed with Delange at a concert on 21 June 2014 in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

, following which he left The Common Linnets.

''Heaven After Midnight''

Waylon's third studio album, ''Heaven After Midnight'', was released in September 2014 and reached #1 in the Dutch iTunes charts as well as in the Dutch Album Top 100 in the week of its release. He worked in

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

on the album with, among others, Bruce Gaitsch, who previously wrote for Chicago and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

''Seeds''

In 2016, Waylon made a few appearances on talk show RTL Late Night; he lectured about the origins of pop-music and previewed tracks from his forthcoming album which came as a surprise. ''Seeds'' covered all styles and was led by the 70s-disco-tribute ''Our Song''. He continued to explore his versatility by playing an annual concert-series in at the Rotterdam Ahoy in a joint venture with Radio Veronica's Top 1000 All Time Classics.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018

On 9 November 2017, it was announced that Waylon would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 for the Netherlands. The choice of the song " Outlaw in 'Em" was announced on 2 March 2018. The Eurovision Song Contest fans gave him the pet name 'Walton'. He performed in the second semi-final on 10 May 2018 and qualified for the final on 12 May 2018. Waylon finished 18th place with 121 points. In June 2018, Waylon returned to RTL Late Night to perform ''Thanks But No Thanks'', one of the other shortlisted songs, for the departing host Humberto Tan. In 2019 Waylon returned as a professional in '' It Takes Two''. He also hosted the second episode of '' DWDD Summerschool'' exploring the key-artists of Outlaw country. He continued to do so in a theatre-tour titled ''My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys''.

''Human''

Late 2019, Waylon released his sixth album ''Human''; early 2020, he announced that the fifth edition of his Ahoy concert-series will be devoted to Dutch(-language) pop classics.

Personal life

He married in 2002, fathered a son, Dylan, and divorced after three years of marriage. He has a daughter with YouTuber Bibi Breijman.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waylon 1980 births Living people Dutch pop singers People from Apeldoorn Dutch country singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2014 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2018 English-language singers from the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch singers Nationaal Songfestival contestants