Lars H.U.G. (born Lars Haagensen on 11 September 1953) is a Danish

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

and painter. He has produced several critically acclaimed albums as a solo artist, and has performed with the group Kliché. Lars was born in

Sorgenfri Sorgenfri (lit. "free of sorrow", like Sans Souci) is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in Greater Copenhagen lying just north of Kongens Lyngby. The neighbourhood is enclosed between the landmarks of a forest with Lyngby Åmose, M ...

. Until the mid 1980s, he went by the name Lars Hug. ''Hug'' was the artist's childhood nickname and he also used it as a stage name. In 1987 he was sued by the pipe manufacturer Poul Erwin Hug, which forbid him from performing under their name. In response, he changed his name to Lars Hugh Uno Grammy, which he abbreviated as ''Lars H.U.G.''

Musical career

Lars H.U.G. began his career performing with the group Kliché, which formed in 1977, and released two

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. The group officially broke up in 1985. H.U.G. released his first album as a solo artist, ''City Slang'', in 1984 while Kliché was on a break. The album was in collaboration

Søren Ulrik Thomsen Søren Ulrik Thomsen (born 8 May 1956) is a Danish poet. His debut was ''City Slang'', 1981. Life Søren Ulrik Thomsen was born in 1956 in Kalundborg. He grew up in Store Heddinge, Stevns, south of Copenhagen, where he went to school together ...

, and put music to the poet's

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of the same title. In 1993, he became the first rock musician to receive a work grant from the

Danish Arts Foundation The Danish Arts Foundation ( Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council ...

. He was nominated by the foundation for a lifetime performance award in 2003. His last album, ''10 Sekunders Stilhed'', was released in 2014 and received gold certification. H.U.G announced his retirement as a musician at the

Crown Prince Couple's Awards The Crown Prince Couple's Awards () are a set of culture and social prizes awarded annually by Frederik X, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The awards were established in 2004 as a gift from the Bikuben Foundation on the occ ...

in 2016.

Painting

At the age of 18, H.U.G enrolled at the

Jutland Art Academy Jutland Art Academy (, abbreviated DJK), is a state recognized institute for higher education in Aarhus, Denmark, offering a 5-year programme in contemporary art. The academy has no departments and focuses on conceptually driven practices and tra ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

. He studied there from 1975 until 1978 as a painter. Several of his album covers feature his own art. H.U.G. worked alongside

Michael Kvium Michael Otto Albert Kvium (born 15 November 1955) is a Danish artist. He has excelled in a number of fields such as painting, illustrating, sculpting and various performance genres. Since the early 1980s, he has created grotesque realistic works, ...

in Mojacar,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1988. He held his first major exhibition in 2001 at Gjethuset in Frederiksværk. He has since worked and been exhibited in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Koroni Koroni or Corone () is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestor, of which it is a municipal unit. Known as ''Corone'' by the Venetians a ...

. In 2009, he was invited to an exhibit in Washington DC by the Danish ambassador. He also held a guest lecture at the Corcoran School of the Arts while in DC. In 2010, he was invited to exhibit his works at the Danish Consulate in New York and to attend the Scandinavia House's Cultural Frontrunner Conference.

Discography

''For releases with the band Kliché, see Kliché.''

Albums

* ''City Slang'' (with

) (Medley, 1984) * ''Kysser himlen farvel'' (Medley, 1987) * ''Kopy'' (Medley) 1989 * ''Blidt over dig'' (Medley, 1992) * ''Kiss & Hug From a Happy Boy'' (featuring Once Around the Park) (Medley, 1996) * ''Save Me from This Rock 'n' Roll'' (Medley, 2003) * ''10 sekunders stilhed'' (Genlyd, 2014)

EPs

* ''Replugged Live'' (Genlyd, 2015)

Compilation albums

* ''G.R.E.A.T.E.S.T.'' (Medley, 1993) * ''Greatest H.U.G.'' (

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, 2004) * ''De første fra Lars H.U.G.'' (EMI, 2012)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:H.U.G., Lars 1953 births Living people Danish rock singers Danish painters People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality Musicians from the Capital Region of Denmark