Piet Veerman (born 1 March 1943) is a Dutch pop musician. From 1964 to 1985 he was a guitarist and singer for

The Cats ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

, and since 1968 the lead singer for all the singles of this band. He released a first solo album in 1975 but started his solo career definitely in 1987 after The Cats broke up for the last time. During his career, Veerman received more than thirty

gold records Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

Biography

Veerman was born in the fishing village of

Volendam Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England. History Originally, Volendam was the location ...

. His father played many instruments, like recorder,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

, and taught his son to play music. His mother was a painter and taught her son to paint. At an age of twelve the young Piet obtained his first guitar. At that time he didn't know if he wanted to choose art or music.Michel Veerman en Johan Tol, ''One way wind: de geschiedenis van de palingsound'', 1999, , pages 74-81 Together with his cousin Jaap Schilder, they performed as the Everly Kosters. This name was formed by ''De Koster'', the nickname of their family, with a reference to

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

who were immensely popular during their youth. However, the greatest influence for them came from

The Hi-Lo's The Hi-Lo's were a vocal quartet formed in 1953, who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1950s and 1960s. The group's name is a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges (Bob Strasen and Bob Morse were tall, Gene Puerling and Cla ...

. A dance teacher and promoter of local music groups at that time was Jan Buijs, nickname ''Spruit'', not to be confused with the later artist manager of

with the same name, nicknamed ''Tuf''. Due to ''Spruit'' the duo was introduced to Arnold Mühren and Cees Veerman, who were members of his band Electric Johnny & The Skyriders.

The Cats

Shortly afterwards they formed The Mystic Four, which was renamed to The Blue Cats and subsequently to The Cats. From the release of the single ''Times Were When'' (1968) Piet Veerman became the lead singer for basically all the singles of The Cats. Up to 1974 it was the most popular Dutch band in the country. They became popular in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

as well. In 1974 the band broke up for the first time. In 1975, The Cats reunited but record company EMI gave them the opportunity to record their own solo albums. Piet Veerman recorded an album and a single, both called ''Rollin' On A River''. The single landed on number 9 of the Dutch Top 40.Dutch Pop Institute, Music Encyclopedia
Piet Veerman - biography
The Cats were also successful again, although not as big as several years earlier. Piet Veerman continued to be their lead singer until the band broke up for the second time in 1980. He again released a solo album, called ''Back To You'', and the single ''Living To Love You''. In 1981 he wrote the guitar intro of a song called ''Mooi Volendam'' of the band Canyon, which became a classic song in the course of years. In 1983 The Cats reunited for the third time, until they split definitely in 1985.

Solo career

Veerman took up a solo career and in 1987 he released his single " Sailin' Home". The single became a major success, charting number 1 in the Netherlands and Belgium and number 4 in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In the Netherlands it was the biggest selling single of the year of 1987. The same year he achieved a number 7 hit with "Walking Together" and in the following years ten more singles reached the Dutch charts. He continued releasing singles until 1993. More than ten albums reached the charts and several received a gold status. Further on in his career he experimented with

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

music, including some covers of

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created ori ...

such as his single ''Heaven Stood Still''. His successes weren't as great as at the beginning of his solo career though. Later he recorded singles and albums that were partly in Spanish and that were influenced by

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin ...

and Tex Mex. He also co-operated with other musicians from Volendam. In 1993 he recorded a duet with Anny Schilder, the former vocalist of BZN. Together with Jan Smit and George Baker in 2002 he recorded an album in German, called ''Die Goldenen Stimmen'' (''The Golden Voices''). He also played as a guest musician on albums, such as in 2006 on ''A Wink At The Moon'' of guitarist and singer-songwriter Specs Hildebrand. In 2014 he recorded the single ''Lovin' Arms'' with vocalist Mell (full name; Mellanie Jonk), granddaughter and contestant on Voice of Holland.Groot Waterland
Mell & Piet Veerman “Lovin’ Arms”
29 August 2014 He continued to support Mell who has since become the front lady of Mell & Vintage Future; for health reasons he has limited performing to special occasions.

Awards

In his career, Veerman received more than thirty

. He is an honorary citizen of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

(1974), Aruba (2004) and

Edam-Volendam Edam-Volendam () is a municipality in the northwest Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, primarily consisting of the towns of Edam and Volendam. It is situated on the western shore of the Markermeer, just north of Waterland. In 2019, ...

(2004). In 2006 he and the other former members of The Cats were decorated members of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veerman, Piet 1943 births Dutch composers Dutch guitarists Dutch male guitarists People from Volendam Living people 20th-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch singers