Luc De Vos (12 July 1962 – 29 November 2014) was a Belgian musician and writer, best known as the lead singer of the

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

formation

Gorki Gorki may refer to: *Maxim Gorki (1868–1936), Russian author * Gorki Águila (b. 1968), Cuban rock musician *Gorki (band) Gorki was a Belgian rock group, in its most recent line-up consisting of Luc De Vos (lead singer and guitarist), L ...

and as a guest in multiple

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

shows. He also voiced VW bus in the Flemish version of the Disney movie ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

''. He died of acute organ failure on the 29 November 2014 in his working apartment in Ghent.

Early life

De Vos was born in 1962 in the village of Wippelgem near

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

as the youngest of 7 children. He had his secondary education at the Sint-Lievenscollege in Ghent. As a toddler, he knew that he wanted to become a rockstar, a job he described as a privilege rather than a job, once he had it.

Career

Musical career

With his original band Gorky, De Vos ended third in Humo's Rock Rally in 1990. Together with Noordkaap, who won the same Rock Rally, he brought the genre of

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

to the people's attention. After Gorky disbanded in 1993, Luc De Vos continued under the name

. Stijn Meuris described the genre of Gorki's songs and De Vos's lyrics as "Flemish poetry with the boots in the clay" and "I have no clue what this guy was talking about, but I understood him". Temporary side projects of De Vos include

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

rock formation Automatic Buffalo which he started with the members of Ashbury Faith, and a solo tour in 2010. With his bands Gorky/Gorki, he had 3 singles and 12 albums in the Flemish charts (the album charts only start in 1995, i.e. after his first albums were released). This included 5 top ten albums.

Writing career

Luc De Vos wrote columns for, among others,

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

radio station

Studio Brussel Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Fle ...

and the Ghent city magazine ''Zone 09/''. He also wrote several books, the most recent of which, ''Paddenkoppenland'' (''Toadheadsland''), was described as an autobiography even though De Vos himself denied this.

Death

Luc De Vos was found dead in the early evening of 29 November 2014 in his working apartment in Ghent. After an autopsy, both suicide and malicious intent were ruled out. The cause of death was concluded to be acute failure of vital organs. He left a wife and a son. De Vos' public funeral at Saint Peter's Church in Ghent took place on Saturday 6 December 2014. Around 15,000 people assembled outside on the Saint Peter's Square as the church was full. He was buried in the famous Catholic cemetery of Campo Santo.

Legacy

Luc De Vos's most famous song was "Mia". Though originally a B-side, it soon grew to be one of the most popular songs in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, as well as gaining a cult following in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, having been voted top of multiple radio station's lists of most timeless songs, including reaching the #1 spot three years in a row on "De Tijdloze 100", the best song of all-time list voted for by the listeners of

. The song has given its name to the MIA's, the music awards for Belgian artists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Vos, Luc 1962 births 2014 deaths Belgian male singers Belgian male writers People from Evergem Belgian Roman Catholics