Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project was originally called

Agua de Annique Anneke van Giersbergen & Agua de Annique was the solo project of the former The Gathering vocalist, Anneke van Giersbergen. History The project was announced on 5 June 2007, the same day that both The Gathering and Anneke van Giersbergen issu ...

, but now goes by her own name. A frequent collaborator of Arjen Anthony Lucassen, she portrayed main characters in the albums '' Into the Electric Castle'', ''

01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter '' Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ...

'' and ''

The Theater Equation ''The Theater Equation'' is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon. ''The Theater Equation'' originally consisted of a four live performances, with cast, choir and small orchestra, ...

'' by his project

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, elect ...

. In 2014 they collaborated on a project called

The Gentle Storm The Gentle Storm is a Dutch musical project by singer and lyricist Anneke van Giersbergen and composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, founder and leader of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon, Guilt Machine and Ambeon. The duo ha ...

, which produced an album titled '' The Diary'' that was released in 2015. Since 2016 she has formed a new band VUUR with members of

live band and her own solo band, to focus on the heavier side of her music. They released their debut album ''

In This Moment We Are Free – Cities ''In This Moment We Are Free – Cities'' is the debut studio album by progressive metal band VUUR. It was released on 20 October 2017, via Inside Out Music. Apart from the regular edition, the album was released on special editions including a CD ...

'' in October 2017. Van Giersbergen has also prominently collaborated with

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

on many of his albums,

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

Lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...

, Farmer Boys,

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since '' Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitc ...

Moonspell Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, ''Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, ''Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable metal ...

Novembers Doom Novembers Doom is an American death-doom band from Chicago, currently signed to Prophecy Productions. Along with Evoken and Rigor Sardonicous, Novembers Doom is one of the earliest American death-doom bands still active today. History Forma ...

Globus Globus is Latin for ''sphere'' or ''globe''. It may also refer to: Business * Globus Medical, a medical device company in Audubon, PA * Globus (clothing retailer), an Indian clothing retail store * Globus (company), a Swiss department store ch ...

Giant Squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Tra ...

, and many other artists and projects.

Biography

Early years

Van Giersbergen was born in the small town of

Sint-Michielsgestel Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. Geography The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium. Just north of 's-Hertogenbosch it is joined by the Aa and ...

, Netherlands. She began singing at age 7, when she participated in a music contest. At 12 years old she participated in her school choir where she studied and toured through France. Later, she took singing lessons and joined several bands. In 1992, she founded the duo "Bad Breath" with guitarist and singer Deniz Cagdas (Spencer Edgards), with music predominantly based on

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, folk and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

. She joined The Gathering in 1994, and is best known for her work with them.

The Gathering and several collaborations (1995–2006)

In 1998, she sang on the

album '' Into the Electric Castle'', a concept album telling the tale of an alien entity 'kidnapping' eight human souls from different times. Van Giersbergen portrayed an Egyptian woman from the time of the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

s. In 2006, she appeared on the album 2006 ''Rubicon'' from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

band members' John Wetton and

Geoffrey Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London ...

on the tracks "To Catch a Thief" and "Tears of Joy". She also appears on the ''

Smear Campaign A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics. It can be applied to individual ...

'' by the

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

band

, on the tracks "Weltschmerz" and "In Deference", contributing spoken rather than sung vocals "for good effect and relevance to the track". In June 2006, the epic rock band Globus released the album ''Epicon'', which included Van Giersbergen's vocal and writing contributions. Van Giersbergen co-wrote the lyrics for "Mighty Rivers Run", and sang lead vocal on the track as well as dueting with Christine Navarro on the seminal "Diem Ex Dei".

The Gathering departure, Agua de Annique and further collaborations (2007–2011)

On 5 June 2007 it was announced that Van Giersbergen would be leaving The Gathering in August 2007 to focus on a new project,

, and to spend more time with her family. She released three albums under this name, '' Air'' in 2007 and both ''

Pure Air ''Pure Air'' is a compilation album by Agua de Annique, a band formed by the former The Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. It was released in 2009. It contains tracks from their first album ''Air'', and also songs featuring other artist ...

'' and '' In Your Room'' in 2009. On 24 November 2007, she performed the song "Somewhere" with

in Eindhoven. Her 7 February 2008 performance of "Somewhere" with Within Temptation at the Ahoy Arena in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

was featured in the Within Temptation live DVD '' Black Symphony''. Van Giersbergen also sings on the Ayreon album ''

'', released in early 2008. The character she portrays is one of the Forever, an alien being of the same race, who kidnapped her character from '' Into the Electric Castle''. She sings on "Scorpion Flower" from the album ''

Night Eternal ''Night Eternal'' is the eighth studio album by Portuguese gothic metal band Moonspell, released on 16 May 2008 in Europe and on 10 June 2008 in North America. It was pre-produced in Portugal with Waldemar Sorychta from 16 to 30 November 2007 a ...

'' (2008) from

. On 3 December 2008, she performed this song live with Moonspell at the 013 in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, The Netherlands. Van Giersbergen collaborated with

on his albums '' Addicted'' in 2009, '' Epicloud'' in 2012, ''

Sky Blue Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...

'' in 2014, ''

Transcendence Transcendence, transcendent, or transcendental may refer to: Mathematics * Transcendental number, a number that is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients * Algebraic element or transcendental element, an element of a field exten ...

'' in 2016, and '' Empath'' in 2019. She also appeared as guest vocalist on several Devin Townsend Project live shows including the second show in the By a Thread concert series in 2011 and The Retinal Circus in 2012, both of which were released as DVD. She appeared as a guest vocalist on the debut album of ''The Human Experimente'', a project which also features

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a sessio ...

(

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

), John Wetton (

Maynard James Keenan Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusci ...

(

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates b ...

A Perfect Circle A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s ...

, Puscifer),

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

, U-G-O with

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is an American-Jamaican singer and rapper. He is known for his hit songs " Beautiful Girls", " Fire Burning", " Take You There", and his collaboration wi ...

, and Dann Pursey (Globus, Vantan). In 2011, Van Giersbergen collaborated with

Yoav Goren Yoav Goren ( he, יואב גורן) is an Israeli-American musician, composer, and record producer specializing in soundtracks and trailer music for films and television series. He was one of the founders of Immediate Music, 1 Revolution Music, and ...

on the song "The Promise", the lead track on

second album ''

Break From This World Globus is a Santa Monica-based movie trailer music-inspired band consisting of a mix of producers, musicians, and vocalists. The band is led by composer and producer Yoav Goren. History Foundation Globus was founded as a result of increasi ...

''. She co-wrote lyrics and, along with Lisbeth Scott, was a featured vocalist on the track. She performed the track "What Could Have Been" for

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gain ...

metal band

. Van Giersbergen also features on a track in the orchestral re-interpretations album from English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band

, ''

Falling Deeper ''Falling Deeper'' is an album of orchestral re-interpretations from British atmospheric rock band Anathema released on 5 September 2011. The album is a follow-up to 2008's '' Hindsight'', for which the band recorded different versions of their ...

'', released on 5 September 2011. She toured with the band in South America, singing "Everwake" during concerts.

Solo career, The Gentle Storm and VUUR (2012–present)

Van Giersbergen released a solo album, ''

Everything Is Changing ''Everything Is Changing'' is the debut studio album by the former The Gathering and Agua de Annique vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. Track list Credits * Anneke van Giersbergen - vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar * Daniel Card ...

'', in 2012, followed by ''

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

'' in 2013. On 22 April 2014, Arjen Anthony Lucassen revealed that his next project would be a collaboration with Van Giersbergen, their third work together after the Ayreon albums '' Into the Electric Castle'' and ''

''. He described it as "an epic double concept album, a combination of 'classical meets metal' and 'acoustic folk'." The project is named

, with their first album released in 2015. Later in 2015, Van Giersbergen collaborated again with Lucassen, portraying the character of Fear in the musical ''

'', consisting of three shows of a semi-staged version of the Ayreon album '' The Human Equation'' ( Mikael Åkerfeldt originally recorded the vocals for Fear on the album). In February 2016, she released a collaboration album with the Icelandic band Árstíðir called ''Verloren Verleden''. On 1 December 2016, she announced the creation of her new band, named VUUR, with musicians coming mostly from

live band. Their debut album was released in 2017. In September 2017, she was a performer in the 'Ayreon Universe' concert series at 013 in

. In 2018 she performed on "Amongst Stars" from Finnish Heavy Metal band

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, ...

' album

Queen of Time ''Queen of Time'' is the thirteenth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released worldwide on 18 May 2018 through Nuclear Blast. This is the first album since 1999's ''Tuonela'' to feature original bassist Olli-Pekka Laine who r ...

, including appearing on the official music video. She also performed in two concerts alongside Residentie Orkest The Hague covering songs from Van Giersbergen's whole career, later released in the live album ''Symphonized'' in October. In 2019, she toured the Netherlands on an acoustic theatre tour 'Inchecken', performing a career-spanning setlist alongside VUUR bandmate Ferry Duijsens in over 40 Dutch theatres, touring from January to March. She also joined Amorphis and Delain for their 2019 North American tour, performing a solo setlist as well as performing "Amongst Stars" alongside Amorphis during their set. On 16 November, she announced a solo album titled '' The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest'', set for release on 26 February 2021.

Musical roots and influences

Van Giersbergen's musical roots are in classical and

music, but she enjoys rock and pop the most. Some of her main influences are

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

(

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

Personal life

On 20 February 2005 she gave birth to a son named Finn, whom she had with her husband Rob Snijders. She is not related to Dutch singer

Dianne van Giersbergen Dianne van Giersbergen (born 3 June 1985) is a Dutch spinto soprano singer. She is the founder and frontwoman of the progressive metal band Ex Libris,Erwin Van Dijk, Sept. 2012, Ex LibrisInterview : Dianne van Giersbergen – Ex Libris (2010) ...

.19 May 2014, Eric May, New Noise Magazine
Album Review: Xandria – "Sacrificum"
Accessed 4 July 2014, "...Newcomer and sultry siren, Dianne Van Giersbergen (not related to Anneke) ... something majestically powerful in her mesmerizing vocal harmonies. ..."

Backing band

* Rob Snijders – drums * Annelies Kuijsters – keyboards * Joost van Haaren – bass * Ferry Duijsens – guitars * Gijs Coolen – guitars

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2013) *''Symphonized – with Residentie Orkest The Hague'' (2018) *'' The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest'' (2021)

Singles

* ''Feel Alive'' (2011) * ''Circles'' (2011) * ''Drive ''(2013)

Filmography

* '' Soaring Highs and Brutal Lows: The Voices of Women in Metal'' (2015)

References

External links

AnnekevanGiersbergen.com
– official website
Agua de Annique official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giersbergen, Anneke Van 1973 births Living people Dutch women singers Dutch heavy metal singers Dutch rock guitarists Dutch rock pianists Dutch rock singers Dutch sopranos Women guitarists Women heavy metal singers English-language singers from the Netherlands People from Sint-Michielsgestel Globus (music) Inside Out Music artists