Waylon (singer)
- For other people named Waylon, see Waylon.
| Waylon | |
|---|---|
 Waylon in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Willem Bijkerk |
| Born | (1980-04-20) 20 April 1980 Apeldoorn, Netherlands |
| Genres |
|
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Associated acts | The Common Linnets, Santa Rosa, Millstreet |
| Website | waylon.nl |
Willem Bijkerk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈbɛikɛrk]; born 20 April 1980), known professionally as Waylon, is a Dutch singer from Apeldoorn. His stage name came from the name of his idol Waylon Jennings. He represented the Netherlands with Ilse DeLange as The Common Linnets at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, finishing in second place in the final.[1] He performed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and finished in 18th place.
Contents
1 Career
1.1 Breakthrough
1.2 Eurovision Song Contest 2014
1.3 Heaven After Midnight
1.4 Seeds
1.5 Eurovision Song Contest 2018
2 Personal life
3 Discography
3.1 Studio albums
3.2 Singles
4 References
5 External links
Career
Waylon started his career in 1995 singing in the television program Telekids where he sang the chorus of the song "Harry Stallion."[2] From childhood, he was inspired by country music and he played the drums with the band West Virginian Railroad.[3] He was signed in 1997 by EMI and went to Nashville to record an album. The album was never completed.
In 2001, he lived and worked for a year in the United States where he also performed with his idol, Waylon Jennings. After Jennings died in 2002, Waylon returned to the Netherlands. Waylon's talent was further developed with Lisa Boray. After returning from the United States, he joined the cover band Santa Rosa. He also sang in the band Millstreet.[3] In 2005, Waylon and Rachel Kramer performed as the duo Rachel & Waylon in the preliminary rounds of the National Song Contest with the song "Leven als een beest."
Breakthrough
Waylon took part in the first season of Holland's Got Talent on SBS 6 in 2008. He auditioned with the song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown. He received positive feedback from jurors Henkjan Smits and Patricia Paay.[4] Waylon reached the final and finished second.
A year later, Universal Music signed Waylon as the first Dutchman to the Motown label.[5] His first single, "Wicked Way", was released on August 7, 2009, as a preview of the album Wicked Ways, released later that month.[5] "Wicked Way" reached the top 10 in the Dutch Top 40 charts.
In April 2010, Waylon won his first major music award, a 3FM Award for "Best Newcomer". A month later he received in a gold record for his debut album on the television program De Wereld Draait Door. In June 2010, Waylon was one of the winners of the TMF Awards, winning the Borsato Award for new talent. The prize was awarded to him by the namesake, Marco Borsato, at the TMF Awards Festival in Enschede.
Waylon released "The Escapist" in October 2011 as the first single from his second album, After All, which was released on November 3, 2011. This was followed by the singles "Lose It" and "Lucky Night". Waylon was voted best singer in the April 2012 3FM Awards.
Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Together with singer Ilse Delange, Waylon was the Dutch entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen. The two formed the duo The Common Linnets and sang the country/bluegrass song "Calm After the Storm".[6] They won second place with a total of 238 points behind Conchita Wurst from Austria, who scored 290 points.[1]
Waylon last performed with Delange at a concert on 21 June 2014 in Enschede, following which he left The Common Linnets.[7][8]
Heaven After Midnight
Waylon's third studio album, Heaven After Midnight, was released in September 2014 and reached #1 in the Dutch iTunes charts as well as in the Dutch Album Top 100 in the week of its release.[9] He worked in Nashville and Hollywood on the album with, among others, Bruce Gaitsch, who previously wrote for Chicago and Madonna.[10]
Seeds
In 2016, Waylon made a few appearances on talk show RTL Late Night; he lectured about the origins of pop-music and previewed tracks from his forthcoming album which came as a surprise. Seeds covered all styles and was led by the 70s-disco-tribute Our Song. He continued to explore his versatility by launching Waylon's Top 1000, an annual series of pre-Christmas-shows devoted to pop-classics.
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
On 9 November 2017, it was announced Waylon will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 for the Netherlands. The choice of the song "Outlaw in 'Em" was announced on the 2nd of March 2018. The Eurovision Song Contest fans gave him the pet name ‘Walton’.
He performed in the second semi-final on 10 May 2018 and qualified for the final on 12 May 2018. Waylon finished 18th place with 121 points. In June 2018, Waylon returned to RTL Late Night to perform Thanks But No Thanks, one of the other shortlisted songs, for the departing host Humberto Tan.
Personal life
He married in 2002, fathered a son, Dylan, and divorced after three years of marriage. He is expecting a child with Youtube star Bibi Breijman.[11]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NL [12] | BE (FL) [13] | ||||||||||||||||||
Wicked Ways |
| 3 | — | ||||||||||||||||
After All |
| 8 | — | ||||||||||||||||
Heaven After Midnight |
| 1 | — | ||||||||||||||||
Seeds |
| 7 | — | ||||||||||||||||
The World Can Wait |
| 1 | 107 | ||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NL [12] | BE (FL) [13] | SCO [14] | |||||||||||||||||
| "Wicked Way" | 2009 | 8 | — | — | Wicked Ways | ||||||||||||||
| "Hey" | 2010 | 43 | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Happy Song" | 46 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Nothing to Lose" | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "The Escapist" | 2011 | 27 | — | — | After All | ||||||||||||||
| "Lose It" | 2012 | 43 | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| "Lucky Night" | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Grasping Song" | 2014 | 42 | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||||||||||
| "Giving Up Easy" | — | — | — | Heaven After Midnight | |||||||||||||||
| "Love Drunk" | 68 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Mis je zo graag" | 2016 | 72 | 73 | — | Non-album single | ||||||||||||||
| "Our Song" | — | 66 | — | Seeds | |||||||||||||||
| "Outlaw in 'Em" | 2018 | 37 | 90 | 74 | The World Can Wait | ||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||
References
^ ab "Eurovision 2014 Results: Voting & Points". Eurovision World. Retrieved 26 January 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Roggeveen, Herman (19 October 2009). "Waylon was Harrie de Hengst uit Telekids". NLpop (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 January 2017.
^ ab "Waylon Biografie". NPO Radio 2 Soul & Jazz (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 January 2017.
^ "Waylon - It's A Man's World (James Brown)". YouTube. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ ab "Nederlandse zanger tekent bij Motown". NU.nl (in Dutch). 23 July 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ "Ilse DeLange en Waylon naar Eurovisie Songfestival". AD.nl. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ Granger, Anthony (28 May 2014). "The Netherlands: Waylon Leaves The Common Linnets". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
^ Knoops, Roy (29 May 2014). "ESC Today". The Netherlands: Waylon Decides To Fly Free. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
^ "Waylon - Heaven After Midnight". Dutch Charts. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
^ "Waylon schreef nieuw album in tien dagen". NU.nl. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ Cortie, Patricia (8 May 2010). "Waylon verliet vrouw voor droom". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ ab Hung, Steffen. "Discografie Waylon". Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
^ ab "Discografie Waylon". Ultratop. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
^ "Official Scottish Singles Chart Top 100: 18 May 2018 – 24 May 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
External links
Waylon on Facebook
Waylon on Twitter
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Anouk with "Birds" | Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest (as part of The Common Linnets) 2014 | Succeeded by Trijntje Oosterhuis with "Walk Along" |
| Preceded by O'G3NE with "Lights and Shadows" | Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | Succeeded by Incumbent |
 Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest | |||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Entries scored out are when Netherlands did not compete | |||||||||||||||||||
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