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Lee Towers

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Lee Towers
Lee Towers (1995-2000)
Born
Leendert Huijzer

(1946-03-23) 23 March 1946 (age 78)
Bolnes, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Other namesThe Voice of Rotterdam
Mr. You'll Never Walk Alone
OccupationSinger
Years active1975–present
SpouseLaura
WebsiteLeeTowers.nl

Leendert "Leen" Huijzer (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈleːndərt leːn ˈɦœyzər]; born 23 March 1946), better known by his stage name Lee Towers, is a Dutch singer with international success. He remains one of the best-selling Dutch artists and holds the record for the most concerts performed by a single artist at the Rotterdam Ahoy, making him one of the most successful Dutch artists of all time.[1]

Career

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Towers' performing range has included pop, show tunes, country, soul and gospel.

He was discovered in 1975 as "The Singing Crane Mechanic", while laboring as a dockworker in Rotterdam. His music has charted in the Netherlands' music charts successfully from the early 1970s up until the present day.[2]

He is well known in the Netherlands for bringing large theatrical performances to his fans in the style of Las Vegas shows. He holds a record in the Netherlands for performing the most concerts for a single artist at one single venue.[citation needed] Since the 1980s, Towers has held 50 gala performances at Rotterdam Ahoy, a multi-purpose arena, which now hosts a bronze bust of him at the entrance.[citation needed] Towers was initially part of the show orchestra Len Hauser & the Drifting Five and broke through in 1975 when he was presented by Willem Duys as the singing crane operator from Rotterdam (however he worked as a maintenance bank worker at the Boele shipyard in Bolnes). He recorded his first single, "Louisa", under the name Leen Huizer. Later, around 1971, there was the Dutch single "Nina Nina Nina", which he released under the name Len Hauser. Willem Duys released the first single performed under the name Lee Towers on the radio program "Music Mosaic"; the song was "It's Raining in My Heart", composed by the lead singer of the Outsiders, Wally Tax. "It's Raining in My Heart" made it to the charts. The next single, "You'll Never Walk Alone" (released as "You Never Walk Alone"), became Towers' biggest hit and was in the top 10 for weeks.

Towers gave his first major concert in De Doelen in Rotterdam in 1980, a unique achievement for the time. In 1981, a concert followed in a sold out venue. He then took the step to Ahoy in 1984 where he produced a sold out show twice.

Lee Towers, 2017

In later years, many concerts and shows followed in Ahoy, where he also sang duets with Anita Meyer and others.

In 2003, Towers starred in the Dutch youth film Sinterklaas and the Danger in the Valley, directed by Martijn van Nellestijn.

Towers is known as a great Feyenoord supporter. His songs "Mijn Feyenoord" and "You Never Walk Alone" are played a lot in De Kuip and have become real club songs. If Feyenoord will win an important prize, Towers will sing "You Never Walk Alone" during the ceremony on the Coolsingel.

His best-known hits are "You'll Never Walk Alone" (which is also a favourite on the terraces of Feyenoord's De Kuip), "Olympic Games" (which he recorded for the Let the Games Begin LP which was to coincide with the 1992 Summer Olympics) and "I Can See Clearly Now".

On 1 November 2011, Towers returned to Ahoy for "One Night Only", a special concert commemorating his 35 years in the entertainment business, as well as his 51st Vegas-style concert in the venue, in front of 12,000 fans. Towers had performed in many places around the world over his 40 years.

On January 27, 2013, the documentary Lee Towers: The Voice of Rotterdam premiered during the Rotterdam Film Festival. Filmmaker Hans Heijnen followed Towers for the project with the camera for a year.

Lee Towers with Glennis Grace, are the only ones who have performed at three different Toppers in Concert editions (2007, 2014 and 2016). At the end of 2016, De Toppers released the Christmas single, "A Very Happy Christmas". Towers played an extra role in the accompanying video clip.

In 2018, he participated in the television program Best Singers. He performed a cover of "What About Us" by Pink and recorded it as a single soon after.

Awards

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The city of Rotterdam awarded him the Erasmus pin in 1990 and the Wolfert van Borselen medal in 2000.

In 2006, he was awarded a Society Award along with Bridget Maasland.[3] He was awarded the title "Ambassador of Rotterdam Port" as well as becoming "Ambassador for Feyenoord Football Club 2005".[4] He has received many other awards for his charity work and music achievements.

In 2017, he received the Edison Oeuvre Prize for his enormous oeuvre and extraordinary achievements in Dutch music.

On November 13, 2019, Towers opened the residential towers in Rotterdam named after him.

Lee holds the record for number of concerts in Ahoy Rotterdam - 51 in total...

Discography

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Albums

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Album title Release date Charting in the Dutch Album Top 100 Comments
Date of entry Highest Weeks
It's Raining in My Heart 1976 12-06-1976 3 18 Certified Gold and Platinum By NVPI
A Christmas Song for You 1976 01-01-1977 37 3 Certified Gold By NVPI
Special Request 1977 21-05-1977 16 10 Certified Gold By NVPI
Still Loves You 1978 08-07-1978 27 9
Definitelee 1979 26-05-1979 27 12
Simply the Best 1980 15-11-1980 11 15 Verzamelalbum Certified Gold By NVPI
Absolutelee 1981 24-10-1981 11 17 Certified Gold By NVPI
New York 1982 11-09-1982 6 23 Certified Gold By NVPI
In Concert 1983 14-05-1983 16 17 Livealbum Certified Gold By NVPI
I Believe in Music 1983 17-09-1983 14 14
Gala of the Year 1984 01-12-1984 8 15 Livealbum Certified Gold By NVPI
You and Me 1985 14-09-1985 21 10
The Merry Christmas 1985 21-12-1985 31 4 Certified Gold By NVPI
Run to Me 1986 15-03-1986 5 22 Certified Gold and Platinum By NVPI
Say Hello 1986 06-12-1986 42 9
Live at Ahoy 1987 06-06-1987 35 7 Livealbum
The Story of Lee Towers 1987 24-10-1987 58 5 Verzamelalbum
In Harmony 1988 15-10-1988 35 17
Listen to My Heart 1990 28-04-1990 30 7
The Hollywood Album 1991 09-11-1991 61 4
Never Walk Alone 1991 Gold and Platinum sales awards. Only sold at Kruidvat drug stores
Let The Games Begin 1992 Gold Only sold at Hema department stores for 1992 Olympic Games
Lee Towers Sings Elvis 1994 Gold sales award. Sold exclusively at Kruidvat drug stores.
Jubilee 1995 11-11-1995 76 9
Country Roads 1999 25-09-1999 5 25 Certified Gold By NVPI
Het mooiste & het beste 2000 19-02-2000 97 1 Verzamelalbum
Members Only 2000 28-10-2000 31 10
The Jubilee Collection 2011 05-11-2011 21 1 Verzamelalbum
Top 100 16-12-2011 24-12-2011 92 1 met Anita Meyer / Verzamelalbum
Memories 2012 - - -
Sweet Memories 2013 20-04-2013 8 2
A Christmas Song For You 2018 28-12-2018 49 1
My Tribute To The Legend 2019 20-04-2019 17 2

Live albums

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  • Lee Towers in Concert (1983)
  • Gala of the Year (1984)
  • Live at Ahoy (1987)
  • Gala of the Year - Live with Guests (1990)

Singles

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Single title Release date Charting in the Dutch Top 40 Comments
Date of entry Highest Weeks
It's raining in my heart 1976 10-01-1976 24 7 No. 14 in the Single Top 100
You never walk alone 1976 26-06-1976 5 7 No. 1 in the Single Top 100 / Alarmschijf
Everyday 1976 09-10-1976 top 20 -
Frankie 1978 24-06-1978 18 5 No. 23 in the Single Top 100
Song of joy 1979 - No. 41 in the Single Top 100
Bless you 1979 26-05-1979 30 5 No. 22 in the Single Top 100
Happy birthday baby <24-12-1979 17-05-1980 30 5 No. 38 in the Single Top 100
Love potion number nine 1981 31-10-1981 23 6 No. 30 in the Single Top 100
I can see clearly now 1982 09-10-1982 10 7 No. 19 in the Single Top 100
Love is all 1982 11-12-1982 top 7 - No. 43 in the Single Top 100
I believe in music 1983 24-09-1983 tip6 - No. 40 in the Single Top 100
If you know what I mean 1984 07-01-1984 tip14 -
Let's get the world singing again 1984 06-10-1984 tip17 -
Run to me 1986 11-01-1986 9 8 met Anita Meyer /
No. 3 in the Single Top 100
We've got tonight 1986 19-04-1986 31 3 met Anita Meyer /
No. 35 in the Single Top 100
Golden lady 1986 22-11-1986 tip17 -
Highway to freedom 1988 17-09-1988 tip13 - No. 79 in the Single Top 100
Lady 1990 21-04-1990 tip11 - No. 58 in the Single Top 100
Ik wou dat ik voor één keertje in m'n leven 1992 07-03-1992 22 6 met Bart de Graaff /
No. 22 in the Single Top 100
The drinking song 1995 02-12-1995 tip13 -
I can see clearly now - Walking on sunshine 1997 28-06-1997 28 3 met Exposure /
No. 44 in the Single Top 100
Mijn Feyenoord 1998 26-12-1998 top 2 - No. 40 in the Single Top 100
Feyenoord voor altijd 2008 - No. 22 in the Single Top 100
Wereldwijd orkest 2011 03-12-2011 12 4 Als onderdeel van Diverse artiesten /
met Het Metropole Orkest & Vince Mendoza /
No. 1 in the Single Top 100
Ga door 2012 - met Johnny Gold /
No. 67 in the Single Top 100
Koningslied 19-04-2013 27-04-2013 2 4 als onderdeel van Nationaal Comité Inhuldiging /
No. 1 in the Single Top 100
Kerstmis vier je samen 2014 13-12-2014 tip25 - als onderdeel van Eenmaal Voor Allen /
No. 68 in the Single Top 100

DVDs

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Dvd's met hitnoteringen in de Nederlandse Music Top 30 Datum van
verschijnen		 Datum van
binnenkomst		  Hoogste 
positie		  Aantal 
weken		  Opmerkingen 
Live in Concert 2011 13-08-2011 7 7
One Night Only - Live in Ahoy 2011 24-12-2011 8 10

References

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  1. ^ Gelder, Arno, 10 January 2007, De crooner komt er aan!, AD.
  2. ^ Lee Towers Archived 27 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ 18 December 2006, Maasland en Towers onderscheiden, AD.
  4. ^ 5 August 2005, Lee Towers ziet niets in reallifesoap, De Telegraaf.
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