Krezip | |
|---|---|
 Krezip on the Bevrijdingsfestival Overijssel 2008 in Zwolle. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Tilburg, Netherlands |
| Genres | Pop rock |
| Years active | 1997–2009, 2019–present |
| Labels | Warner Music Benelux(2000–2004) Sony/BMG(2004–present) |
| Members | Jacqueline Govaert Anne Govaert Annelies Kuijsters Joost van Haaren Bram van den Berg Jan Peter Hoekstra |
| Past members | Thomas Holthuis Thijs Romeijn |
| Website | https://krezip.nl |
Krezip is a Dutchpop rock[1] band fromTilburg,North Brabant, formed in 1997. The band was formed while its members were in high school and has had four consistent core members, centered around lead singer and songwriterJacqueline Govaert.
Signed toWarner Music, the band's breakout single "I Would Stay" was a number-one hit on theDutch Top 40 and the third-biggest song of 2000. Their performance at the nationally-televised 2000Pinkpop Festival, when Govaert was 18 years old, helped earn the band significant media attention.[2]
In 2008, the band announced an imminent breakup.[3] Their final single, "Sweet Goodbyes", reached number two on the Dutch Top 40 and was named the second-biggest song of 2009. Their final show took place on 27 June 2009 at theHeineken Music Hall inAmsterdam.[4]
The band announced a reunion in 2019 to perform at Pinkpop[5] and released the single "Lost Without You", their first in 10 years.[6]
Krezip began as a four-piece outfit in 1997 in Tilburg,Netherlands, consisting ofJacqueline Govaert on vocals, Anne Govaert and Annelies Kuijsters on guitar and Joost van Haaren on bass guitar. Though these four formed the core of the band, they found it difficult to find a suitable permanent drummer. Thijs Romeijn eventually became the band's permanent drummer.
In 1998, Krezip, armed with two demo tapes, played many festivals in the Netherlands, such as Festival Mundial, Noorderslag, andLowlands. Studies and age made obtaining commercial offers difficult. In 1999, they released an independent EP,Run Around.[7]
The band soon received numerous offers from record companies. In 2000, they signed withWarner Music and recorded their first album,Nothing Less, with the producer Oscar Holleman. Their first single, "Won't Cry", did little to advance their career. The band gained more exposure after a show at the DutchPinkpop festival, with the ballad "I Would Stay" being received exceptionally well. The song was released as their second single, with a video compiled from footage of the Pinkpop show. "I Would Stay" reached number one on theDutch Top 40.[2]
Nothing Less entered the charts at #26 in the Netherlands and climbed to #1,[8] going 3× platinum.[9] Despite this, the two other singles from the album, "All Unsaid" and "Everything and More", failed to chart.[10] Among others, Krezip received a 2001Edison Award, the Dutch equivalent of theGrammy Awards.
The band toured continuously on the album, though towards the end of the tour, problems began to arise. Govaert began to lose her voice, while Kuijsters experienced severe pains in her hand that stopped her from playing shows without painkillers. After the tour, Govaert needed an operation on her vocal cords, while Kuijsters was diagnosed as simply not being "made" to play guitar.[citation needed]
Despite a delay due to writer's block, the band releasedDays Like This in 2002. The album was certified gold (35,000 copies) later that year, and though the album was not as successful as its predecessor, it had several successful singles ("You Can Say" (#18), "Promise" (#16) and "Mine").
A club tour supported the album in the Netherlands, including acoustic performances in theaters. A performance forThe Box TV programPure was recorded live and released on DVD and CD calledThat'll Be Unplugged. The band liked the unplugged shows at first, but over time, decided to stay with rock music. Krezip also spent time promoting the album inGermany. They did two tours there and they were the supporting act forBon Jovi in the Netherlands and supportedSheryl Crow during her tour of Germany andFrance.
Around this timeBram van den Berg replaced Thijs Romeijn on drums and Jan Peter Hoekstra replaced Thomas Holthuis on guitar.
While the band wrote new songs, Warner Music forced Warner Music Benelux to drop all of its national artists, including Krezip.
After leaving Warner, Krezip received many offers from other record labels. After careful deliberation, they chose to sign withSony BMG. In a speech during the 2004 TMF Awards, Krezip thanked their old label for everything that they had done. The band flew to Los Angeles to collaborate with the American producersWizardz of Oz, writing most of their new album there.
On 9 May 2005, Krezip releasedWhat Are You Waiting For?. The album entered the Dutch Album Top 100 at #1 and stayed in the chart for 27 weeks. Three singles were released. "Out of My Bed" was first. It peaked at #9, making it Krezip's second top 10 hit. Two other singles, "Don't Crush Me" (#22) and the ballad "I Apologize" (#30), failed to make it into the top 20.
In early 2005, Krezip traveled toEthiopia at the request of charity foundationNovib for an education campaign. The journey was recorded and shown on the Dutch version ofMTV. The band also went on toured Benelux, selling out 15 big venues.
The song "Same Mistake" was used in the Dutch movieHet Schnitzelparadijs (Schnitzel Paradise), which became a huge hit in the Netherlands. The band later noted that "Same Mistake" is the only Krezip song that has never been played live.
In 2006, Jacqueline joined several artists in the Netherlands to record the anthem for the 2006TMF Awards. The song was performed live during the award show. The single became available for download to support the foundationDance 4 Life - it peaked at #4 on downloads alone.
In 2007, the band teamed up with the Swedish producersAdel Dahdal andPeter Mansson to record a new album. The band deliberately chose a drastically different sound, with disco influences and more electronica, and hence teamed up with various songwriters such asFelix Rodriguez andJesper Anderberg ofThe Sounds among others. The album was recorded in two weeks, and on 11 May 2007 Krezip releasedPlug It In. On 6 February 2007 a Dutch radio station (3FM) played a rough version of the first single, "Plug It In & Turn Me On". The song was officially released in April 2007 and entered theDutch Top 40 at the #39. While on tour, Krezip performed at Pinkpop Festival for the fourth time, replacingAmy Winehouse. The second single, "Play This Game With Me", was released after this show, with its music video using footage of the Pinkpop show. The song failed to chart. The third single, "All My Life", put the band back into the top 10, peaking at #7.
On 17 August 2007, Jacqueline announced onGiel Beelen's radio show that Krezip would give a special concert on 29 December 2007, in theHeineken Music Hall in Amsterdam to celebrate its tenth anniversary. A documentary was also filmed, showcasing the band's entire career until that point with narration by the band members. The band recorded a cover ofThe Korgis' song "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime". The song was used in the filmAlles is liefde. Later that year, the band re-releasedPlug It In with the track, a new song and a number of live tracks from the HMH concert. In 2008, Krezip's breakthrough single "I Would Stay" received a once-only, people's choice award for "All-time best Dutch single" from the Dutch national radio station3FM.[11]
The band continued to tour, eventually announcing that a best-of compilation would be released in December 2008. It included three new tracks, of which "Go To Sleep" and "Sweet Goodbyes" were released as singles. Originally, it had been implied that the band thought this a good point to release a retrospective. On 2 October, however, the band announced in Giel Beelen's radio show that they had decided to break up. On the band'sHyves account, they explained that a good time for them to quit was when they were at their peak.[12]
The band finished the tour and played two farewell concerts in the Heineken Music Hall. The last concert on 27 June 2009 was released on CD and DVD under the titleSweet Goodbyes.[4]
On 28 January 2019, news broke that Krezip would return to the stage for Pinkpop 2019. On 29 January 2019 they premiered their single "Lost Without You" on the Dutch TV showDe Wereld Draait Door. On 8 June 2019 they released the follow-up single "How Would You Feel". On 24 October 2019 Krezip released the albumSweet High.
The band's comeback started after drummer Bram van den Berg saw a 40-yearPinkpop compilation CD. During a dinner with the other band members, he suggested making new music, and while the rest of the band initially laughed, it led ultimately to the reunion.[6]
On 24 January 2023, the band announced that they will release their sixth studio albumAny Day Now on 7 April. The album includes the singles "Make it a Memory" featuringDanny Vera, and "Ready For More".[13]
On February 12, it was announced that drummerBram van den Berg will fill in for drummerLarry Mullen Jr. of Irish bandU2 on theirU2:UV concert residency at theMSG Sphere, which started in late 2023, as Mullen Jr. faces recovery from surgery.[14]
In 2024, Govaert succeededJan Smit as aEurovision Song Contest commentator.[15]
On May 17, 2024, the seventh studio albumMusic For Máxima was released.[16]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL [17] | BEL (FLA) [18] | |||
| Run Around |
| — | — | |
| Nothing Less |
| 1 | 1 | |
| Days Like This |
| 1 | 13 |
|
| What Are You Waiting For? |
| 1 | 14 | |
| Plug It In |
| 3 | 40 |
|
| Sweet High |
| 2 | — |
|
| Any Day Now |
| 4 | — | |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | ||||
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL [17] | |||
| Best of Krezip |
| 1 |
|
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| NL [17] | ||
| Sweet Goodbyes |
| 2 |
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| That'll Be Unplugged (And More) |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL Top 40 [22] | NL Top 100 [17] | BEL (FLA) [18] | ||||
| "Won't Cry" | 2000 | — | 66 | — | Nothing Less | |
| "I Would Stay" | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| "All Unsaid" | —[A] | 64 | —[B] | |||
| "Everything and More" | 2001 | —[C] | 65 | —[D] | ||
| "You Can Say" | 2002 | 18 | 19 | —[E] | Days Like This | |
| "Promise" | 16 | 26 | —[F] | |||
| "Mine (Acoustic)" | 2003 | —[G] | 99 | — | Non-album singles | |
| "All I'm Asking for" | 2004 | — | — | — | ||
| "Out of My Bed" | 2005 | 9 | 5 | —[H] | What Are You Waiting For? | |
| "Don't Crush Me" | 22 | 27 | —[I] | |||
| "I Apologize" | 30 | 29 | — | |||
| "Plug It In & Turn Me On" | 2007 | 21 | 19 | —[J] | Plug It In | |
| "Play This Game With Me" | —[K] | 77 | — | |||
| "All My Life" | 7 | 7 | — | |||
| "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" | 2008 | 23 | 32 | — | Alles is liefde | |
| "Go to Sleep" | 24 | 48 | — | Best of Krezip | ||
| "Sweet Goodbyes" | 2009 | 2 | 2 | — |
| |
| "Lost Without You" | 2019 | 8 | 33 | —[L] |
| Sweet High |
| "How Would You Feel" | 27 | 85 | —[M] | |||
| "Come Back with Me Now" | — | — | — | |||
| "You Are Not Alone" | 2021 | 20 | 39 | — | TBA | |
| "Seventeen" | — | — | —[N] | |||
| "Make It a Memory" (withDanny Vera) | 2022 | 31 | 65 | — | ||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | ||||||
| International | |
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| Artists | |
