Waylon

Waylon is a Dutch singer, songwriter and musicion. He was born in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. He chose his stage name as he was a fan of Waylon Jennings.

 

In 1995 he started singing in the tv show Telekids. He signed a record contract in 1997 and was allowed to record an album in Nashville. However, it was never released. In 2001 he lived and worked in the United States for a year . He appeared in the show of his idol Waylon Jennings with whom he also worked. Jennings passed away and Bijkerk returned to the Netherlands.

 

After his return, he sang in the bands Santa Rosa and Millstreet. Waylon joined Rachel Kramer in 2005 as the duo ‘Rachel & Waylon’ in Het Nationaal Songfestival, the Dutch national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2008 he reached the final of Holland’s Got Talent. Despite the fact he did not win, this marked his breakthrough. His first record, “Wicked way”, became a huge hit in the Netherlands. It was followed by a debut album, “Wicked ways”, in 2009. In april 2010, he won a 3FM Award as ‘best newcomer’ and a TMF Award as ‘new talent’. In october 2011, his second album “After all” followed and he won another 3FM Award, now for ‘best singer’.

Together with Ilse Delange, Waylon formed The Common Linnets. They represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Calm after the storm” and became 2nd. After Eurovision, the only performance of the two together was at the Tuckerville concert in Enschede, organized by The Common Linnets. After this concert, Waylon left the band.

Two solo albums followed: “Heaven after midnight” (2014) and “Seeds” (2016). Meanwhile, Waylon was a coach in The Voice of Holland. In 2018, Waylon took part in the Eurovision Song Contest again, now as a solo singer with the song “Outlaw in ’em’. He reached the final again. The song was also released on his new album, “World can wait”. A tour with the subject ‘outlaws in country music’ followed: My heroes have always been cowboys.

 

In december 2019, Waylon released a 6th album, “Human”. During the first lockdown of COVID19, he sang a version of Willeke Alberti’s song “Samen zijn”, together with the original singer and Wibi Soerjadi.

In 2022, Waylon started singing in Dutch. His duet with former Eurovision-host Jan Smit (as Willem & Jan), “Tussen jou en mij” was released on single.