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André Hazes (June 30 1951 - September 23 2004) was a Dutch singer. He was born in 1951 in the Pijp in Amsterdam. At the age of eight he was discovered at the Albert Cuyp-market by Johnny Kraaykamp, a Dutch TV personality. His first big hit was Eenzame Kerst (Lonely Christmas). In 1979 he signed a contract with EMI, and soon after that his career started to take off. Een Vriend (A Friend) and Een Beetje Verliefd (A Bit In Love) were both top ten hits of his.
1982 was the year of his great concert in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. His Italian album in 1986, in memory of Willy Alberti, was followed by a blues album. A childhood dream had come true. André featured in a documentary Zij Gelooft In Mij (She Believes In Me).
On September 23 2004, he died of cardiac arrest. Four days later a capacity crowd of about 40,000 attended a memorial ceremony in his honour at the Amsterdam ArenA stadium. Over 5 million viewers saw the event live on Dutch television. Hazes was cremated the day after. In accordance with his wish, part of his ashes will be sent into the sky in a skyrocket.
André was known to live unhealthy, beer and alcohol being his main vices. He once himself said: "If it wasn't for the fame, I'd be a full-blown alcoholic." Infact, he already was, he just managed to integrate this quite well into his life.
Eventually his habits caught up with him, and somehow André became bigger in death than he had ever been during his lifetime. Everybody identified with the small underdog and subsequently André became public domain the months after his death.
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