Rob de Nijs

Rob de Nijs (26 December 1942 – 16 March 2025) was a Dutch singer and actor.

Life and career

De Nijs, supported by The Lords, won a talent contest in 1962 and in the same year released his first single, "Ritme van de Regen", which was a great success. The Lords signed in 1965 with another label, prompting De Nijs to part ways with them and embark on a joint circus tour with Johnny Lion. De Nijs competed in 1969 the Dutch heat of the Eurovision Song Contest, and through musicals like Sajjuns Fiksjen he secured a role in the children's TV series and Hamelen in the latter of which he played Bertram Bierenbroodspot. A farewell tour and a new album were scheduled for 2020, but postponed because of the corona pandemic. That same year he appeared on the talkshow De Wereld Draait Door ("The World Keeps Turning") to perform two new songs. De Nijs played the first of his two remaining farewell shows in Belgium in 2021. His final farewell concert to the Dutch public took place on 22 June 2022, in Amsterdam. The broadcast of this performance drew 1.2 million viewers.

De Nijs died in Bennekom, Netherlands, on 16 March 2025, at the age of 82, from complications of Parkinson's disease.