Waylon (singer)

Waylon
Waylon (2014)
Background information
Birth name	Willem Bijkerk
Born	20 April 1980 Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Genres	Country, pop, rock, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1997–present
Associated acts	The Common Linnets, Santa Rosa, Millstreet
Website	waylon.nl

Waylon (born Willem Bijkerk; 20 April 1980 in Apeldoorn) is a Dutch singer. 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.

Career

Bijkerk started his career in 1995 singing in the television program Telekids where he sang the chorus of the song Harry Stallion.

From childhood, he was inspired by country music and he played the drums with the band West Virginian Railroad. 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, Bijkerk returned to the Netherlands.

Bijkerk 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.

In 2005, Bijkerk 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

Bijkerk 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.^[1] Bijkerk reached the final and finished second.

A year later, Universal Music signed Bijkerk as the first Dutchman to the Motown label.^[2] His first single, "Wicked Way", was released on August 7, 2009, as a preview of the album Wicked Ways, released later that month.^[2] "Wicked Way" reached the top 10 in the Dutch Top 40 charts.

In April 2010, Bijkerk 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.

Bijkerk 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". Bijkerk was voted best singer in the April 2012 3FM Awards.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Together with singer Ilse Delange, Bijkerk 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".^[3] They won second place with a total of 238 points behind Conchita Wurst from Austria, who scored 290 points.

Bijkerk last performed with Delange at a concert on June 21, 2014 in Enschede, following which he left The Common Linnets.

Heaven After Midnight

Bijkerk'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. He worked in Nashville and Hollywood on the album with, among others, Bruce Gaitsch, who previously wrote for Chicago and Madonna.^[4]

Personal life

He married in 2002, fathered a son, Dylan, and divorced after three years of marriage.^[5]

Discography

Studio albums

• Wicked Ways (2009)
• After All (2011)
• Heaven After Midnight (2014)
• Seeds (2016)

Albums

Album	Tracks	Tracks
Wicked Ways [6] 2009 August 7 CD, Album, Enh Motown 272210-8 Netherlands 2009 CD, Album, Enh Motown 271268-7 Netherlands 2009	1 Wicked Way 2 Fragile People 3 Could Have Been Me 4 Nothing To Lose 5 Hey 6 Tell Me What You're Thinking	7 Happy Songs 8 Sometimes An Angel 9 Don't Go Changing 10 Ain't Nothing Wrong With That 11 Hate Me 12 Until We Meet Again
After All[7] 2011 November 3 CD, Album, Ltd Universal, Universal Music, Motown, Entertainment-NL 278685-8 Netherlands 2011 11xFile, AAC, Album, 256 Entertainment-NL none Netherlands 2011 8 CD, Album Universal Music 278685-9 Netherlands 2011	1 The Escapist 2 Lucky Night 3 After All 4 Need A Little Time 5 Jealousy 6 Lose It	7 Desperate Situation 8 Speed Of Love 9 The Satisfier 10 Time For Us 11 Unfaithful
3. Heaven After Midnight[8] 2014 September Netherlands 12xFile, AAC, 256 + File, MPEG-4 Video + Album, Dl) Waymore Music none Netherlands 2014 CD, Album Warner Music 256463315 Europe 2014 CD, Album + DVD-V + Dlx, Dig Warner Music 256463315 Europe 2014 LP, Album, Ltd, Num, Gat Music On Vinyl MOVLP1082 Europe 2014	1 Let It Pour 4:48 2 Ain't Got Nothin' On Me 3:22 3 Easy Over You 3:24 4 This Rodeo 3:41 5 Sad Song 4:04 6 Somewhere In The Middle 3:09	7 Love Drunk 3:49 8 Giving Up Easy 4:12 9 Finally Home 3:33 10 Heaven After Midnight 3:53 11 Dog's Life 4:03 12 Love Me 5:06 12 Ain't Giving Up Easy (Mini Documentary) 20:01
4. Seeds 18 November 2016 Netherlands Warner Music CD, Album	1 Jailbird 2 Careful Lovin' You 3 Between the Two of Us 4 Nashville Boogie	5 Walking on a Straight Line 6 Outlaw Shoes 7 Our Song 8 Seeds

References

1. "Waylon - It's A Man's World (James Brown)". YouTube. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
2. "Nederlandse zanger tekent bij Motown". NU.nl (in Dutch). 23 July 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
3. "Ilse DeLange en Waylon naar Eurovisie Songfestival". AD.nl. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
4. "Waylon schreef nieuw album in tien dagen". NU.nl. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
5. Cortie, Patricia (8 May 2010). "Waylon verliet vrouw voor droom". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2014.
6. https://www.discogs.com/Waylon-Wicked-Ways/master/718354
7. https://www.discogs.com/Waylon-After-All/master/718355
8. https://www.discogs.com/Waylon-Heaven-After-Midnight/master/735174

External links

• Waylon on Facebook
• Waylon on Twitter