Johnny Lion
Biography
Johnny Lion (John van Leeuwarden, The Hague, The Netherlands, 4 July 1941 - 31 January 2019) was a Dutch singer and actor, who in the early 1960s was regarded as the Dutch equivalent of Cliff Richard.
Johnny Lion rose to fame as the frontman of Johnny & The Jewels (later: The Jumping Jewels, a guitar group heavily influenced by The Shadows, with Lion as their 'Cliff'.
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Lion left the band in 1965 and had smash solo hit in Holland with Sophietje that same year. He also recorded and performed with Rob de Nijs, another 'Dutch Cliff Richard' of the 1960s.
Johnny Lion continued to make music, but also worked as a journalist, columnist, actor and press officer for Circus Tony Boltini.
He lived in the Dutch town of Breda.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.