Johnny

Johnny and Johnnie refer to:

People

André Hazes

André Gerardus Hazes (30 June 1951 – 23 September 2004) was a Dutch singer in a genre called levenslied ("song about life"), popular music about everyday life sung in the Dutch language. André Hazes was one of the most successful singers in this genre. Hazes recorded 31 studio and live albums and he released 55 singles.

Biography

Early years

Hazes was born in 1951 in Amsterdam's De Pijp-area. At the age of eight, he was discovered at the Albert Cuyp Market by comedian Johnny Kraaykamp and made his television debut in AVRO's Weekendshow in 1966, where he sang a song in fake Italian, "Piove". Two singles, "Droomschip" and "Juanita", were released but did not lead to a career in music.

The 1970s

Hazes pursued several odd-jobs (ordinary seaman, flower delivery boy, chimney sweeper, butcher's apprentice, bicycle repairman, trench digger, construction worker, demolition man, market salesman, and disc jockey) before building up a reputation as a singing bartender in his hometown, in café De Krommert on the Witte de Withstraat. In 1976 he wrote and demoed "Eenzame Kerst", a song about a prisoner's lonely Christmas, for singer Willy Alberti hoping that he would record it; Alberti suggested that Hazes record it himself. The single sold 70,000 copies in three weeks and made him an instant star.