Rob De Nijs

Biography

Rob de Nijs (born December 26, 1942 in Amsterdam; died March 16, 2025 in Bennekom) was a Dutch actor turned singer. His career has spanned nearly five decades so far, beginning when he won a Dutch talent show in 1962 at the age of 19, which earned him a record deal. It didn't take long before he had his first big hit, which was "Ritme van de regen" (i.e. "Rhythm of the rain"), released in June 1963. That was the first in a series of successful hit songs (including the 1975 hit "Malle Babbe", which means "Strange Lady"), but it would take until July 1996 for him to secure his first #1 hit in his home country, which was "Banger Hart" (i.e. "Frightened Heart").

A considerable amount of his songs were written by Belinda Meuldijk, his second wife, to whom he was married from 1984 to 2006. He has since remarried, namely with his former personal assistant Henriette Koetschruiter.

Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.