Maria Petronella "Ria" Brieffies (23 February 1957 – 20 July 2009) was a Dutch singer, best known as a member of 1980s girl group "

Dolly Dots Dolly Dots are a Dutch pop girl band that formed in 1979. With their style of upbeat dance/pop, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer a ...

Life

After leaving school, Brieffies trained as a medical assistant. In her spare time she sang in various bands, including the VIPs. In 1979 she joined the newly formed girl group

, who went on to become one of the most popular groups of the 1980s in the Netherlands. The band also enjoyed some success in Germany and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The single "Love Me Just a Little Bit More", featuring Brieffies on lead vocals, topped the Dutch singles chart for one week in 1984.

Solo career

Brieffies was generally regarded as Dolly Dots' most accomplished singer. After the group split up in 1988, she continued her career as a solo singer. In 1989 she recorded "Love Always Finds a Reason", a duet with American singer

Glenn Medeiros Glenn Alan Medeiros (born June 24, 1970) is an American former singer best known for his 1987 George Benson cover, "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You", which reached No. 12 on the US ''Billboard charts, Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 10 ...

which reached the Dutch top 20. She later performed with her own

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

group, the Ria Brieffies Kwintet. In the 1990s Brieffies retired from the music industry and became a qualified

manicurist A nail technician or nail stylist is a person whose occupation is to style and shape a person's nails. This is achieved using a combination of decorating nails with coloured varnish, transfers, gems or glitter. Basic treatments include manicure ...

pedicurist A pedicure is a cosmetic treatment of the Foot, feet and toenails, analogous to a manicure. During a pedicure, dead skin cells are rubbed off the bottom of the feet using a rough stone (often a pumice stone). Skincare is frequently provided u ...

, before reuniting with the Dolly Dots in 2007 for a comeback tour which included three concerts to sell-out audiences of 10,000 at the Ahoy Arena in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Illness and death

Ria Brieffies was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2008 and died on 20 July 2009, aged 52.Obituary (in Dutch)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brieffies, Ria 1957 births 2009 deaths People from Stede Broec Deaths from lung cancer in the Netherlands Dutch pop singers Dutch women pop singers Dutch jazz singers Dutch women jazz singers 20th-century Dutch women singers