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Herman Brood

Herman Brood:Herman Brood 6 months before his death, Amsterdam, december 2000.
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Herman Brood 6 months before his death, Amsterdam, december 2000.

Herman Brood (pronounced "Broat" /bro:t/; Zwolle, November 5, 1946 – Amsterdam, July 11, 2001) was a Dutch musician, painter and media personality. Brood was the Dutch personification of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll.

After playing piano in Cuby and the Blizzards and several other bands since 1964, Brood started his own group, Herman Brood and His Wild Romance, in 1977. The band had their first hit single, Saturday Night, in 1978. But even more than his music, it was his outspoken statements in the press about sex and drug use that brought Herman Brood into the public arena in the Netherlands. In the early 1980s he was romantically involved with the German artist, Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared in the film Cha Cha. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user in the Netherlands.[citation needed] In the 1990s he took up painting and became as successful as a painter as he was as a musician.

With the band 'Herman Brood and his Wild Romance' he made his best known album 'Shpritsz' (a play on the German word for injection needle), containing anti-drug use songs like 'Dope Sucks', but also 'Saturday Night'. Brood swore off most drugs, reducing his drug use to alcohol and a daily shot of speed. When in 2001, he found out that he had only a few months left to live, Herman took matters into his own hands and, depressed by the failure of his drug rehabilitation programme, committed suicide on July 11 by jumping from the roof of the Hilton Hotel at the age of 54.[1]


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Herman Brood, the artist

Although Herman Brood was known outside of Holland mostly among music fans, in his homeland he was primarily known and loved for his contributions to public art, particularly for creating murals in various public spaces around Amsterdam. Most art critics have difficulty trying to describe his unique style, but his murals are considered by many to be a valuable cultural contribution to the Dutch capital.

The work of Herman Brood continues to have a significant impact on new generations of Dutch street and public artists.See also: Herman Brood as an artist

Discography

50 The Soundtrack is a tribute album for Herman's 50th birthday, on which he sings duets with various guests.

Trivia

Categories


Articles with unsourced statements | Dutch musicians | Popular musicians who committed suicide | Suicides by jumping from a height | 1946 births | 2001 deaths

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