Lenny Kuhr

Lenny KuhrLenny Kuhr (1950) won the Eurovision Song Contest at age 19 with De Troubadour, a song she had written herself. It was the beginning of a career that continues today.  After the contest, she got a recording contract in France. She made a number of singles and one LP (with the popular boys’ choir Les Poppys), scored hits in France and Canada, was invited by Georges Brassens to go on a theater tour with him, and won awards for France at international festivals in Chile and Mexico.   Still, her heart’s desire remained writing and performing her own songs, which were at their best in her native Dutch. She gave up her contract and set out in the Netherlands – where her talent was recognized with an Edison Award – on a long career as a singer/songwriter.
In 1980 she had her greatest hit, “Visite,” which she recorded with Les Poppys. The corresponding album hit gold.
Typical of Lenny Kuhr is her unique Fado-like voice and her compositions’ many changes of meter and tempo. Her work is also distinguished by its large measure of spirituality. Kuhr likes to avoid the beaten path as a singer/songwriter. Her work with Ralph Rousseau on this album and a theater program before are examples. In 1993 her career was brutally interrupted when she lost her voice. After more than a year, and only when she had resigned herself to the possibility that she might never sing again, did her voice slowly return. She resumed recording, but it would be nearly 10 years before she was strong enough to perform in theaters again.
In 1997 she made a highly successful Schubert album with the lyrics translated into Dutch. In 2001 she released her Fado album, an ode to Amalia Rodrigues.
Since 2002 she has toured the Netherlands and Belgium with theater programs. In 2007 she celebrated her 40th anniversary as an artist with a live double CD and touring with that material. She has made 25 albums. She has been made a lady of the realm by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix.