The name Hans de Booij is inextricably linked to the hit Annabel. But he was not able to rely on this success for long. The singer recently sounded the alarm because he no longer had a home due to financial problems.
“It won’t work without you.” It is the phrase from the memorable chorus of Annabel, which was used as the title of the biography about De Booij published earlier this year. Next month it will be forty years ago that the song stormed the charts and De Booij became nationally known in one fell swoop.
It would have been close if De Booij had never recorded the song at all. Boudewijn de Groot and Herman Pieter de Boer initially wrote the song for a De Groot album. At the time, De Booij worked as a theater technician for De Groot and was given the opportunity to record an album.
Initially stood Annabel not on this album. De Booij first scored the modest hit A Woman Like You with the album he named after himself. After the appearance of Annabel few months later, got Hans de Booij a new version of this album.
Annabel made it to third place in the Dutch Top 40 and also became a hit in Belgium. It suddenly made De Booij a star. Annabel became a Nederpop classic, which is sung by many to this day. But De Booij was never able to match that success again. After Annabel he only made the Top 40 with the song Home Ben.
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De Booij did not play Annabel live for years
De Booij experienced deep valleys after his fleeting success. The singer became addicted to alcohol and weed, and the demand for performances and his music declined. The singer also became homeless. For a long time he had nothing to do with himself Annabel to have. He didn’t play it live until a few years ago. He did not earn much money anymore, because he himself was not one of the writers.
“Even Annabel going again,” he said in 2016 New Rev when he returned to the stage. “Stains on my neck and sweat on my back when playing that song. That has improved a lot since pop stage dance hall Annabel opened in Rotterdam. I consider that a great compliment to me. Since then I have been cured of the Annabel-disease. I haven’t been able to play the song for years, but everything is open again.”
There was no performing since the corona pandemic. De Booij ended up in intensive care with lung covid. His recovery was difficult, so that he was unable to sing for his audience even when society reopened.
Earlier this month he sounded the alarm because he has fallen financially. The singer has had to cancel the rent on his house because he no longer has an income. The singer lived in a caravan at the time and hoped with an interview The Telegraph to get a roof over his head again. That has now been done.
De Booij has been offered a terraced house in Fijnaart by a real estate entrepreneur for which he does not have to pay rent for a year. The entrepreneur immediately saw the singer’s mood improve. “You completely noticed that he saw the sun shining again,” he says Heart of the Netherlands. Due to this concern, De Booij hopes to perform less soon and to record new music.
2023-07-02 03:04:00
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