BZN was a successful Dutch pop group that had a string of hits from 1966 to 2007 on. Combining high productivity and a disciplined work ethic with an exceptionally good feeling for what their audience liked, the band achieved a thirty-year music chart presence in the Netherlands, to an extent comparable to that of Cliff Richard in the United Kingdom, and rewarded by likely record-breaking numbers of platinum certifications for their albums. BZN recorded mostly in English and French, but also had success with material in Dutch and German.
History
BZN started out as a pop-rock band in their native Volendam in 1966, playing early-Bee Gees-like harmony pop. The initial line-up consisted of Jan Veerman, :nl:Cees Tol|Cees Tol, Evert WoestenburgJan Tuijp and Gerrit Woestenburg. In the early 1970s, the band switched to hard rock and had its first successes, including a brace of Top 40 hits. After original lead singer Veerman left the band, and drummer Jan Keizer took his place, the band made a musical U-turn and opted for commercial middle-of-the-road pop, adding female co-vocalist Anny Schilder and laying the foundation for their status as the most popular Dutch band ever. BZN has had over 50 hits in the Dutch hit charts to date, and are the only music act to have had top 40 hit singles for 26 consecutive years. Album chart presence was even stronger, without interruption from 1977 to 2008. BZN's big breakthrough started with the song "Mon Amour", which held the #1 hit parade ranking for over 5 weeks. Outside of the Netherlands the band has had some success as well, amongst which several hits in South Africa and minor successes with their French-language songs in Canada. Through the years there have been many lineup changes, the most important of which have been the departure of Schilder in 1984 and in 1988 of the brothers Cees and :nl:Thomas Tol|Thomas Tol, who until then had been responsible for most of the music and lyrics. The band remained nevertheless successful, making their last major change in strategy when they decided to write in Dutch instead of English as of 2003. BZN are also responsible for the initial success of singer Jan Smit, who was discovered by BZN at the age of 10 and went on to have pop and schlager successes in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. On October 14, 2005, four members of BZN were recognized with a Dutch order of chivalry for their contributions to Dutch music history. On February 15, 2006, BZN announced they would do one final tour and then call it quits. This goodbye tour ended 16 June 2007. Guitar player Cees Tol died in April 2018.
Amassing gold and platinum records
In spite of having enjoyed limited international success, BZN acquired remarkable, and possibly record breaking numbers of gold and platinum certifications for their albums. Estimated worldwide sales of 15 million records resulted in a grand total of 88 gold and platinum records. Thirty different albums went platinum in the Netherlands, and the band released platinum achieving albums in 22 consecutive years.
