Johan, (sometimes stylized as JOHAN or JHN) is a Dutch band fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jacob de Greeuw.[1] Their music has been influenced by bands such as The Beatles,[2]Crowded House, and The Byrds.[3] The band has released 6 albums to date, and has had a rotating lineup over the years, with de Greeuw being the only consistent member.
Jacco de Greeuw founded Thank God For Us in the late eighties, after having played in several other bands. The band was renamed Little Mary Big when joined by Marike Groot. With this band, he reached second place at the Grote Prijs van Nederland, an important music competition in the Netherlands. However, arguments with female vocalist Marike Groot (who later appeared on Always..., the debut album of The Gathering), forced them to break up the band. De Greeuw formed a new band named Visions of Johanna after a Bob Dylansong. In 1992 they competed once again in the Grote Prijs competition, reaching the semi-finals this time.[citation needed]
After some changes in the line-up, the band signed a contract with Excelsior Recordings in 1995 and released the single "Swing". One year later, in 1996, the band's name was shortened to Johan, as a subtle reference to Johan Cruyff.[4] Under this name the band released a self-titled debut album. The album was received well by Dutch critics and became a commercial success.
SpinART Records signed the band for the US region. When record executive Seymour Stein heard the band's music he became interested, and travelled to the Netherlands to hear the band play. He wanted to release the album on Sire Records. The CD's had already been pressed with the Sire label, but for unknown reasons the deal didn't go through at the last moment, and the CD's were destroyed.[5]
The band planned to record its second release in 1998, but De Greeuw's clinical depression took its toll. Three more years would pass before Pergola was released, in 2001. The album received positive reviews and got a lot of airplay on national radio stations. That summer Johan featured on the Pinkpopfestival. The following year the band even received the Dutch Edison award for Best National Pop Group.[citation needed]
After an international tour, hardly any news was heard from Johan until 2004, when members Wim Kwakman and Diederik Nomdem left the band. Jeroen Kleijn stepped up and became the band's new drummer, and Diets Dijkstra became the band's bassist. After this Johan started playing live again, and recorded its third album, THX JHN, which was released in May 2006.[citation needed]
The first single of the album, "Oceans", became a great success. This was helped by the song's video, in which an actual fan from Argentina travels from her home country to the Netherlands to see Johan play live. The theme of fans thanking Johan is also applied to the album's booklet, where various fans from other countries appear. The single peaked at 67 on the Dutch Single Top 100, and stayed on the chart for 6 weeks.[6]
Johan played a sold-out club tour and released two more successful singles, "Walking Away" and "She's Got A Way With Men". Through a deal with V2 Records the album was also released in Germany and Italy. Although the album deal for the debut with Sire fell through in the '90s, the band still has a steady following in the US.[citation needed]
The fourth album, titled 4, was scheduled to be released on 22 December 2008, but was eventually released on 30 April 2009, breaking with the tradition of a new record every five years, as 4 was released less than three years after THX JHN.
On 26 August 2009 Johan announced they were disbanding at the end of 2009, with de Greeuw declaring that he wanted to pursue different musical ventures.[7] The band went on a farewell tour that they called "The Last Round" and on 22 December they played their last show, at Paradiso in Amsterdam. At this show they received a gold record for Pergola. A DVD of their last show was to be released at the end of 2010, but this has not happened to date.[citation needed]
On 11 January 2018 the band's new album Pull Up was announced together with some tour dates. The bands fifth, titled Pull Up, was released on 13 April 2018. It is the bands highest charting album to date, peaking at 6 on the Dutch Album Top 100, and staying on the chart for 6 weeks.[8][9] The band performed the song "About Time" at De Wereld Draait Door, a Dutch talk show, to promote the album.
On 4 March 2022 Johan announced that the latest tour would be cancelled, citing the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in place at the time.[10]
The band's latest album, titled The Great Vacation, was released on January 26 2024. It was the first album where de Greeuw didn't write all the songs by himself, instead he and guitarist Robin Berlijn wrote all the songs on the album together.[11] In a run-up to the release of the album, a mini documentary was released about the creative process that went in to making the album.[12] A tour is currently taking place and is set to conclude in November.[13]
Line-up
Current members
Jacco de Greeuw: lead singer, guitar (1996–2009, 2018–present)
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres, critics have noticed the band's experimentation and musical versatility. In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. In another interview, den Adel stated that "We consider ourselves more an atmospheric melodic symphonic metal/rock band... In my opinion, we are not a gothic band but we have gothic elements".
The Gathering are a Dutch rock band formed in Oss, North Brabant in 1989. The band's lineup currently consists of founding brothers René Rutten (guitars) and Hans Rutten (drums), Silje Wergeland, Hugo Prinsen Geerligs (bass) and Frank Boeijen (keyboards).
Clouseau is a Belgian pop group, having success in Belgium and the Netherlands since being established in the late 1980s. Apart from a brush with English material in the early 1990s they perform in Dutch. Their biggest hits are "Daar gaat ze" and "Passie".
Dead Head is a Dutch thrash metal band from the city Kampen. The band was formed in 1989 by the four original members Tom van Dijk, Robbie Woning (guitar), Ronnie van der Wey (guitar), and Hans Spijker (drums). Their mission was to become the most intensive and brutal thrash metal band Europe ever had seen. They were influenced by classic thrash metal bands like Dark Angel, Kreator and Sadus.
THX JHN is the third studio album by Johan released on May 22, 2006. The previous album, Pergola, was released five years earlier. Like all Johan albums, it was released on the Excelsior Recordings label.
Pergola is the second studio album by Johan, released in 2001, five years after their debut album Johan. Both albums were released on the record label Excelsior Recordings. The album was well received by the press. On 6 May 2002, the album was released with a different cover in Germany. The album was named after the street in the Dutch city of Hoorn where lead singer Jacco de Greeuw lived at the time. In 2009, the band received a gold record for Pergola. It had been sold over 30.000 times by that point, making it the band's best selling album. The album has been described as "being part of the canon of Dutch pop music".
Daryll-Ann was a Dutch rock band stemming from Ermelo, Netherlands. Between 1992 and 2004 the band released six studio albums, plus one live album. Daryll-Ann was the first signing of Dutch label Excelsior Recordings.
Caesar was a Dutch indie rock trio from Amsterdam, consisting of Roald van Oosten, Marit de Loos and Sem Bakker. The band was founded in 1994. Caesar released four studio albums, plus one retrospective release in 2006, Before My Band Explodes. The band was dissolved in 2008.
El Pino & the Volunteers is a band from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The band's music mixes alt. rock with Americana. In 2006 the band's debut album Molten City was released on Excelsior Recordings.
Spinvis is a Dutch one-man music project centred on Erik de Jong. Using experimental, lo-fi music, Spinvis has earned two gold records in the Netherlands, and performed sold-out tours in both the Netherlands and Belgium.
Meindert Talma is a Dutch lo-fi singer and keyboardist whose backing band goes by the name of "the Negroes." He sings in Dutch as well as Frisian and English and has released seven albums as of 2007.
4 is the fourth studio album by Johan, released on 30 April 2009. Johan previously released new records every five years, but 4 was released only 3 years after THX JHN on the Excelsior Recordings label.
3JS is a Dutch band from Volendam, currently consisting of Jan Dulles, Jaap Kwakman and Robin Küller. The band rose to fame in 2007 after the success of their debut album Watermensen, which they had recorded with their friends Jan Smit and Nick & Simon. In 2011, the band represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Never Alone".
Tim Knol is a Dutch singer-songwriter.
De Staat is a Dutch alternative rock band, formed in Nijmegen in 2006. Their name translates to "The State".
The Sore Losers is a Belgian rock band, formed in 2009. Jan Straetemans, Cedric Maes (guitar), Kevin Maenen (bass) en Alessio Di Turi (drums) combined their love for rock, country, blues and garage and brewed it into a raw and pure rock sound of their own.
The discography of Johan, a Dutch rock band, consists of 6 studio albums, at least 15 singles, a compilation album, and at least 7 music videos. All of the band's music has been released on the Excelsior Recordings label.
The Great Vacation is the sixth studio album by Dutch rock band Johan. It was released on 26 January 2024, and received good reviews by critics. Like all of Johan's music, it was released on the Excelsior Recordings label. The album was delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then a glut of releases by the record label. The album was the first of the bands releases that wasn't exclusively written by Jacco de Greeuw. All songs were written by him and guitarist Robin Berlijn. The albums title also refers the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jacob "Jacco" de Greeuw is a Dutch singer, songwriter and musician who is most well known as being the driving force behind Dutch rock band Johan. He founded the band in 1996.
12.5 Years, 3 Albums, 36 Songs is a compilation album by Dutch rock band Johan. It includes remasters of the first three albums the band has released, Johan, Pergola, and THX JHN, as well as a DVD with the band's seven music videos.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
