BZN was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

.

History

BZN started out as a pop-rock band in their native Volendam

Volendam

Volendam is a town in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Edam-Volendam. The town has about 22,000 inhabitants .- History :...

 in 1966, playing early-Bee Gees

Bee Gees

The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...

-like harmony pop. The initial line-up consisted of Jan Veerman (vocals), Cees Tol (guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

), Evert Woestenburg (guitar) Jan Tuijp (bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

) and Gerrit Woestenburg (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

).

In the early Seventies, the band switched to hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 and had its first successes, including a brace of Top 40 hits. After original singer Veerman left and drummer Keizer took his place behind the microphone, the band made a musical U-turn and opted for commercial radio pop, adding female co-vocalist Annie Schilder and laying the foundation for their status as the most popular Dutch band ever (in terms of hit singles and albums). BZN has had over 50 hits in the Dutch hit parade to date.

BZN's claim to fame started with the song "Mon Amour" (1976), which held the #1 hit parade ranking for over 5 weeks. Outside of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 the band has had some success as well, amongst which several hits in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 (such as "Yeppa" in 1990) and minor successes with their French-language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 songs in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Through the years there have been many lineup changes, the most important of which have been the departure of Schilder in 1984 (replaced by Carola Smit

Carola Smit

Carola Sier-Smit is a Dutch singer and, since March 25, 1984, a member of Dutch pop band BZN.Carola began her musical career in 1980 , when she joined the band Double Trouble. When she was with that band, she released her first single Never Loved This Way Before...

) and in 1988 of the brothers Cees and Thomas Tol (keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

), who until then had been responsible for most of the music and lyrics. The band remained nevertheless successful, making their last major change in strategy when they decided to write in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 instead of English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 as of 2003.

BZN are also responsible for the initial success of singer Jan Smit

Jan Smit (singer)

Johannes Hendricus Maria "Jan" Smit is a Dutch pop music and schlager singer. He scored his first number one position in the Dutch charts with Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen in 1997...

, who was discovered by BZN at the age of 10 and went on to have pop and schlager

Schlager

Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...

 successes in the Netherlands, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

On February 15, 2006, BZN announced they would do one final tour and then call it quits. This goodbye tour ended 16 June 2007.

Final lineup until 16 June 2007

• Carola Smit
  Carola Smit
  Carola Sier-Smit is a Dutch singer and, since March 25, 1984, a member of Dutch pop band BZN.Carola began her musical career in 1980 , when she joined the band Double Trouble. When she was with that band, she released her first single Never Loved This Way Before...
  
   – vocals (joined on 25 March 1984)
• Jan Keizer
  Jan Keizer (singer)
  Jan Keizer is a Dutch singer and composer. He was the male lead vocal of the disbanded Dutch popband BZN.-Career:...
  
   – vocals (joined on 17 October 1969)
• John Meijer – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (joined on 23 January 2003)
• Dick Plat – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
   (joined on 27 March 1988)
• Jan Tuijp – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   (joined on 1 July 1966)
• Jack Veerman – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
   (joined on 1 May 1974)

Radio pop

• Making a Name (1977)
• You're Welcome (1978)
• Summer Fantasy (1979)
• Grootste hits (1980)
• Green valleys (1980)
• Friends (1981)
• We Wish you a merry Christmas (1981)
• Pictures of Moments (1982)
• The best of BZN (1982)
• 28 Golden Hits (1983)
• Desire (1983)
• Falling in Love (1984)
• Reflections (1984)
• Christmas with BZN (1985)
• Heartbreaker (1986)
• BZN live - 20 jaar (1987)
• Visions (1987)
• Endless Dream (1988)
• Crystal Gazer (1989)
• Bells of Christmas (1989)
• Horizon (1990)
• Congratulations (1991)
• Rhythm of my Heart (1992)
• Gold (1993)
• Sweet Dreams (1993)
• Serenade (1994)
• Summer Holiday (1995)
• 'Round the Fire (1995)
• A Symphonic Night (1996)
• Pearls (1997)
• A Symphonic Night II (1998)
• The best Days of my Life (1999)
• More Gold (2000)
• Gold & More (2000)
• Out in the Blue (2001)
• Tequila Sunset (2002)
• Leef je leven (2003)
• Die mooie tijd (2005)
• The Singles Collection (2005)
• Adieu BZN - The Final Concert (2007)

Harmony pop

• Maybe Someday (1968)
• Waiting for You (1968)
• Everyday I have to Cry (15 February 1969)
• Gonna take my Mind off Maria (1969)
• Mother can you See me (1969)

Hard rock

• This is what I feel (1970)
• Rock and roll woman (1971)
• Bad bad Woman (1971)
• I can't See (1972)
• Riding on (1972)
• Rolling around the Band (10 March 1973)
• Sweet silver Anny (6 October 1973)
• Barber's Rock (2 March 1974)
• Love me like a Lion (10 August 1974)
• Goodbye Sue (31 May 1975)
• Djadja (1976)

Radio pop

• Mon Amour (18 September 1976)
• Don't say Goodbye (12 February 1977)
• Sevilla (9 September 1977)
• The Clown (3 December 1977)
• Lady McCorey (6 June 1978)
• Felicidad (2 December 1978)
• Oh me oh My (28 April 1979)
• Marching on (8 September 1979)
• Pearly Dumm (16 February 1980)
• Rockin' the Trolls (23 August 1980)
• Chanson d' Amour (11 April 1981)
• The old Calahan (15 August 1981)
• Blue Eyes (15 May 1982)
• Twilight (11 September 1982)
• Put on your Make-Up (1982)
• Just an Illusion (12 March 1983)
• Le Legionnaire (17 September 1983)
• If I say the Words (7 April 1984)
• La saison Francaise (22 September 1984)
• The Summertime (27 April 1985)
• Run Away Home (21 September 1985)
• Waltzing Maria (19 April 1986)
• La France (30 August 1986)
• Amore (26 September 1987)
• La Difference (30 April 1988)
• La Primavere (10 September 1988)
• Wheels on Fire (19 November 1988)
• El Cordobes (20 May 1989)
• If I had only a Chance (9 September 1989)
• Help me (5 May 1990)
• Yeppa (1 September 1990)
• Over the Hills (10 November 1990)
• It happened 25 Years ago (31 August 1991)
• Che Sara (1992)
• My Number One (1993)
• Desanya (1993)
• Quiereme Mucho (1994)
• Banjo Man (1994)
• Santo Domingo (1995)
• Sing of Love and Faith (1996)
• Mama (1996)
• La Spagnola (1997)
• Wedding bells (1997)
• Mother (1997)
• The Gypsy Music (1998)
• Mexican Night (1998)
• Don't give up, don't give in (1998)
• Baby Voulez-Vous? (1999)
• Isles of Atlantis (1999)
• Keep Smiling (2001)
• Where the Nightingales sing (2001)
• Will the be a Time (2002)
• De zon, de zee (2003)
• The hitmedley (2005);
• Goodbye (2007);