Louis Neefs

Biography

Louis Neefs was a Belgian singer and presenter. Neefs was training for a career in technical drawing at college in Mechelen when he joined the college choir and started learning to play guitar. At first his musical activities were purely recreational, but by the late 1950s he had become a member of a group called Sun Spot. Via performances and talent competitions, Neefs’ distinctive singing voice came to the notice of famous musical talent scout Jacques Kluge. Kluger and Schoepen brought Neefs to the attention of record companies, and he was signed to a contract in 1958, releasing his first album in 1960. He achieved several top 20 singles in the Flemish chart, and a modicum of success in the Netherlands. Neefs represented Belgium in the Eurovision Songcontest twice, in 1967 and in 1969.  After Eurovision, Neefs continued , with the biggest hit of his career, “Margrietje”, reaching #4 in 1972.  In tandem with his musical career, Neefs was a presenter of television and radio shows for Flemish broadcaster VRT. He also became politically active, standing as a councillor in Mechelen.
Louis Neefs died, together with his wife,  in a road accident  25 December 1980, aged 43.