Angela Groothuizen (born 28 September 1959) is a Dutch singer, artist and television personality. Her initial fame came as a member of the

Dolly Dots Dolly Dots are a popular Dutch girl band in the 1980s. With their style of upbeat dance/ pop, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer a ...

Biography

Angela Groothuizen was born in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

, and has four brothers and sisters. She joined the band Howling Hurricane, of which one of her brothers was a member, and in 1978 they recorded a single, "Dreamt up Rock". That same year she was asked to join a newly formed

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

, and while she was more rock-oriented, she joined, and in 1979 the

were officially launched.

Musical career

The pop girl group

achieved popularity inside and outside the Netherlands, scoring hits between 1979 and 1988. She is credited also with discovering Roberto Jacketti & The Scooters, a Dutch pop group that scored one big hit ("I Save the Day"), and co-producing their first album in 1984. After the split of the Dolly Dots in 1988, Angela Groothuizen teamed up with Ruud Mulder, former guitarist of disco/funk-contemporaries Spargo, to record as ''Angela & the Rude''. Additionally she wrote songs for, among others,

Kinderen voor Kinderen (, ) is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA. Since 1980 the choir has released one album of new children's songs each year, and is probably the only act from the 1980s with consecutive albums in the top 40 chart ...

and Carmen Gomes. In 1998 the Dots reunited for a one-off concert, which gave rise to a Dolly Dots musical. ''Love Me Just a Little Bit More'' played at The Chassé Theatre in Breda and around the Netherlands during 2004, and closed in early 2005. As result of renewed interest in the group after the musical,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

released a Dolly Dots Greatest Hits compilation of the group as well as a DVD. In May 2007, they sold out

Rotterdam Ahoy Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a convention centre and multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main venues: a fairs an ...

three nights in a row, and toured the country again in 2008. In March 2008 Groothuizen released a Dutch-language solo album titled ''Melk en Honing'' (Milk and Honey). In July 2009 fellow-Dolly Dot Ria Brieffies died from lung cancer. At this time Groothuizen and the other Dolly Dots indicated they would never perform together again. However, in 2016 they did come together to perform during a concert of

De Toppers De Toppers (), also known internationally as the Toppers, is a Dutch supergroup, consisting of René Froger, Gerard Joling, Jeroen van der Boom and Jan Smit. Gordon Heuckeroth, one of the founding members, left the group in 2011. The group has ...

, and in 2020 they announced they would do a tour called ''Sisters on Tour'' through The Netherlands. In 2012 she published a children's book, ''Paula en Khalilo''. In April 2013 Groothuizen was awarded the '' Annie M.G. Schmidt-prijs'' for her song ''Vinkeveen'', together with author Jan Beuvig and composer Nico Brandsen. In 2015 she recorded with Nico Brandsen 14

Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' ("The ...

holiday songs. It was accompanied by a sing-a-long book, which sold 175,000 copied, earning it four times platinum status.

Television career

Meanwhile, Groothuizen had begun a television career starting with an adaptation of

Challenge Anneka ''Challenge Anneka'' is a British reality programme that aired on BBC1 from 8 September 1989 to 15 October 1995 and was hosted by Anneka Rice. It was announced in 2006 that the series was returning, but this time on ITV. The first of the two s ...

for

AVRO AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...

. Her contract expired in 2005 and was not renewed. Groothuizen has since moved to commercial television as a panel judge on talent show programs, particularly in '' Dutch X Factor'' since 2008. From 2010 until 2012 she was one of the judges on the Dutch version of ''The Voice'', ''

The Voice of Holland ''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality TV singing competition, that became a near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician Roel van Velzen, in the Netherlands airing on RTL 4. ...

''. In 2019 and 2020 she presented a television show for RTL, ''Obese'', a weight loss program. She is also active in musical theater; with her show ''Label'' (which includes, besides songs by Dutch writers, a number of songs by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

) she toured throughout the Netherlands in 2010.

Discography

Albums

;As Angela & the Rude (with Ruud Mulder) *1990: ''Young Souls'' (reached #46) *1992: ''Walking on Water (reached #71) ;As J.A.M. (with Julya Lo'ko and Mildred Douglas) *2001: ''Message in a Bottle'' ;Solo *1996: ''Groothuizen'' (reached #54) *2008: ''Melk en honing'' (reached #46)

Singles

;As Angela & the Rude (with Ruud Mulder) *1990: "Pressure" (reached #21) *1991: "Young Souls" (reached #32) *1992: "Back to the Real World" (reached #11) ;Solo *2010: "Bier en Bitterballen" (reached #81) ;As "

" *2011: "

One Thousand Voices "One Thousand Voices" is a single by the coaches of the Dutch television programme ''The Voice of Holland''. The song was released on 16 September 2011. The song was written by Tjeerd Oosterhuis, Klaus Derendorf, Hiten Bharadia and Alfred Tuohey ...

" (reached #1)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groothuizen, Angela 1959 births Living people Dutch women singers Dutch singer-songwriters Dutch television presenters Dutch women television presenters Dutch television talk show hosts People from Alkmaar