Robert Long

Robert Long (1979)

Robert Long ( born Robert Long , real name Jan Gerrit Bob Arend Leverman , Dutch; Jan Gerrit Bob Arend Leverman ; October 22, 1943 , Utrecht - December 13, 2006 , Antwerp ) - Dutch singer, songwriter , journalist and TV presenter.

He made his debut in 1963, having founded the rock band The Yelping Jackals (from the English - “Barking jackals”), since 1967 the lead vocalist of Unit Gloria ; consisting of both performed a more or less lyrical repertoire in English. In 1971, he began a solo career under the pseudonym Robert Long, implying his growth (1 m 92 cm), and switched to Dutch, focusing on satirical, socially critical songs of his own composition. Long's first album, Vroeger of Later ( n. - “Sooner or later,” 1974) sold over 500,000 copies and stayed on the national top for 118 weeks, rising three times to first place; the central place on the album was occupied by the sharp anticlerical song “Jesus Will Save” ( Dutch. Jezus Redt ). In other songs, Long sharply criticized consumer society and gay discrimination. Long's second album, Lebenslang , also sold several hundred thousand copies and won the 1977 Dutch Edison National Record Prize.

In addition to the career of the artist-performer, Long has performed in the theater show "Jokes, Satire, Songs and Other Sweets" since 1975 ( Dutch Scherts, satire, songs en ander snoepgoed ), in which his partners were Jenny Arean , Jerome Rehuis and Dmitry Frenkel . In 1980 - 1983 released three satirical shows in conjunction with Len Jongeward , containing particularly sharp attacks on the church, both Catholic and Calvinist. In 1984 he was awarded the Golden Harp. Since 1986 he was published as a columnist in the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad , a collection of these articles was published in 1990 as a separate publication. In 1988 , he published an autobiographical novel, “What Do You Want?” ( Dutch: Wat wil je nou ). Two volumes of Long's correspondence with the poet Kes van der Pleim were also published .

In 1991, together with Dmitry Frenkel, he composed and directed the musical “Chekhov” ( Dutch: Tsjechov ), based on the biography of the Russian writer A.P. Chekhov , and played the title role in it.

In September 2005, Long underwent a serious heart operation. On December 6, 2005, he registered marriage with his manager Christoph Rootsart (born 1972). Long's last year of life passed under the sign of illness, although he managed to release his last album, entitled "The Joy of the Devil" ( Dutch. 'N Duivels Genoegen ). The singer died of peritoneal cancer.