René Shuman (born 5 December 1967) is a Dutch singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Shuman gained national fame through his performance in

Henny Huisman Hendrikus Josephus Huisman (born 18 June 1951) is a Dutch television presenter and musician. Biography Huisman had a catholic upbringing. Originally trained as a window dresser, he was a drummer, DJ and event host before he enrolled in the wor ...

's ''

Soundmixshow ''Soundmixshow'' is a Dutch talent show which was a live-vocals version of the '' Playback Show''. It aired from 17 November 1985 to 27 April 2002 and was hosted by Henny Huisman. The format has since been sold to other countries,

''. He came in second with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's repertoire, a rendition of the songs "

Are You Lonesome Tonight? "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927, first by Charles Hart, but also with successful versions by Vaughn De ...

" and "

Don't Be Cruel "Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956.Victor (2008), ''The Elvis Encyclopedia'', p.115-116 It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in ' ...

". He performed several times with the original band members of Elvis Presley, both in group form and individually. He was on stage with

the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

(Presley's original vocal group), the

TCB Band The TCB Band is a group of musicians who formed the rhythm section of Elvis Presley's band from August 1969 until his death in 1977 (depending on the context, the nickname may also extend to Presley's background vocalists during that same perio ...

, drummer

DJ Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationshi ...

, Cherrill Nielsen, Charly Hodge and guitarist

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

. In 1999, Shuman presented Scotty Moore with a Lifetime Achievement Award in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Shuman has been nicknamed the "Dutch Elvis". Despite the fact that the Dutch public often associates Shuman with the music of Elvis Presley, it took until 2003 before he released a cover of 'the King' together with singer Angel-Eye. His repertoire until then was mostly self-produced. Shuman included "

Rhythm of My Heart "Rhythm of My Heart" is a song written by Marc Jordan and John Capek that was first recorded by Dutch rock and roll artist René Shuman, included on his 1986 self-titled debut album. In 1991, British singer Rod Stewart recorded the song for his ...

", a song written by

Marc Jordan Marc Wallace Jordan (born March 6, 1948) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ro ...

and

John Capek John Capek is a composer, arranger, keyboardist, and producer. Biography John Capek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) on 27 November 1947. He is the son of Fred Capek, a concert pianist and mechanical engineer, and Irene ...

, on his 1986 debut album, ''René Shuman''. In 1991, British singer

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

recorded the song for his album ''

Vagabond Heart ''Vagabond Heart'' is the sixteenth studio album by British recording artist Rod Stewart, released on 25 March 1991 by Warner Bros. Records. The album reached No. 10 in the US, and reached No. 2 in the UK. The album features five singles, among ...

''. Stewart's version reached 3 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 5 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, and No. 1 on the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and Irish charts. He married his partner Angel-Eye in February 2009.

References

1957 births Living people Dutch country singers Dutch rock singers People from Geleen Musicians from Limburg (Netherlands) 20th-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch male singers {{Dutch-singer-stub