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 Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

. He represented the Netherlands with Ilse DeLange as part of

the Common Linnets The Common Linnets are a Dutch band that was formed in 2013. The band originally consisted of friends Ilse DeLange and Waylon. DeLange has stated that the group is a platform for Dutch artists to make country, Americana, and bluegrass music, an ...

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

, finishing in second place in the final. He represented the Netherlands again as a solo artist in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European ...

and finished in 18th place.

Career

Waylon started his career in 1995 singing in the television program ''

Telekids ''Telekids'' is a Dutch children's television programme showing on the RTL 4 channel from 1989 to 1999 and since 2010 on RTL 8. The show first aired on October 2, 1989, at 6:25pm, after the six o'clock news. Initially only Irene Moors presented ...

'' 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 EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

and went to Nashville 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,

. 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 A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

Santa Rosa. He also sang in the band Millstreet. In 2005, Waylon and

Rachel Kramer Rachel Kramer (born in Rotterdam on 9 August 1980) is a Dutch singer and the runner-up of the second season of the X Factor in the Netherlands. Her first single was a cover of Rascal Flatts's "What Hurts the Most "What Hurts the Most" is a ...

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 ''Holland's Got Talent'' (often referred to as HGT) is the Dutch version of the ''Got Talent'' series, which was created by Simon Cowell, who also created the series ''The X Factor''. The first season began broadcasting in March 2008 on SBS6. Th ...

'' on

SBS 6 SBS6 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is a part of Talpa TV, formerly known as SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are Net5, Veronica, and SBS9. History SB ...

in 2008. He auditioned with the song "

It's a Man's Man's Man's World "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966, in a New York City studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached No. 1 on the '' Billboard'' R& ...

" by James Brown. 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 decade ...

. Waylon reached the final and finished second. A year later,

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

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 R ...

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 The TMF Awards were an annual television awards show broadcast live on TMF (The Music Factory). The first Dutch TMF Awards were held in 1995, as a brand extension to the recently launched local Dutch music channel TMF. The show was very small an ...

, winning the Borsato Award for new talent. The prize was awarded to him by the namesake,

Marco Borsato Marco Roberto Borsato (; born 21 December 1966) is a Dutch singer. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, he started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He has consistently been one of the most successful and biggest grossing arti ...

, 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, Waylon was the Dutch entry to the

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The two formed the duo

The Common Linnets The Common Linnets are a Dutch band that was formed in 2013. The band originally consisted of friends Ilse DeLange and Waylon. DeLange has stated that the group is a platform for Dutch artists to make country, Americana, and bluegrass music, an ...

and sang the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

/ bluegrass song "

Calm After the Storm "Calm After the Storm" is a song by Dutch country rock duo The Common Linnets ( Ilse DeLange and Waylon). It was chosen internally to represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark. In the contest it placed second with ...

". They won second place with a total of 238 points behind

Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...

from Austria, who scored 290 points. Waylon last performed with Delange at a concert on 21 June 2014 in Enschede, 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 Nashville and Hollywood on the album with, among others,

Bruce Gaitsch Bruce R. Gaitsch (; born February 7, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable bands and musicians such Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, and Agnetha Fältskog as a session musician and songwri ...

, who previously wrote for

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and Madonna.

''Seeds''

In 2016, Waylon made a few appearances on talk show

RTL Late Night ''RTL Late Night'' was a Dutch late night television talkshow. It was broadcast from August 26, 2013, to March 4, 2019, on commercial station RTL 4 on weekdays between 22:30 and 23:40. Background In the daily program, guests are seated at a tabl ...

; 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

for 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 ...

. The choice of the song "

Outlaw in 'Em "Outlaw in 'Em" is a song written by Jim Beavers, Waylon and Ilya Toshinskiy and performed by Dutch singer Waylon. It represented Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. The single was released on 2 March 2018. Eurov ...

" 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 Humberto Tan-A-Kiam (born 26 October 1965), better known as Humberto Tan, is a Dutch radio and television presenter, sports journalist and writer of Surinamese descent. Career After obtaining his vwo-diploma Tan studied law at the University ...

. 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 A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

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