This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bishonen (talk | contribs) at 09:00, 1 August 2004 (Moved to Sweden in 1949, not 47, acc. to all the sources.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 09:00, 1 August 2004 by Bishonen (talk | contribs) (Moved to Sweden in 1949, not 47, acc. to all the sources.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Cornelis Vreeswijk (1937–1987) was a singer/songwriter who was born in the Netherlands, but moved to Sweden with his parents after the Second World War in 1949. He went to college with the intent of becoming a journalist, but through the influence of fellow musician Fred Åkerström he became instead a musician, who won the hearts of the Swedish public with his engagement and his sense of humour.
Vreeswijk became a well-known interpreter of the songs of great Swedish poets and songwriters like Carl Michael Bellman and Evert Taube, to whom he lent his own refreshing bluesy style. All the same, he also authored himself many well-loved tunes and ballads. As well as being a singer/songwriter, Cornelis also performed on stage in musicals, most notably as King Herod in the Swedish version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Cornelis Vreeswijk returned to the Netherlands several times and attempted to build a career there as well, but apart from some hits in the 1960s he never achieved the fame he enjoyed in Sweden.
After his death Vreeswijk was buried as an icon of the Swedish music scene at a national cemetery in Stockholm.