Profile of Herman Brood on Famous Like Me

Biography

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 and 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 made Herman Brood famous in the Netherlands. For a while in the early Eighties he was romantically involved with similarly outrageous German artist, Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared together in the movie Cha Cha. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user of the Netherlands. In the 1990s he took up painting and became as successful as a painter as he was as a musician.

By 2001, however, Herman's body was destroyed by alcohol and drugs. When it transpired 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 off the Amsterdam Hilton.

Herman Brood, the artist

Although Herman Brood was famous mostly among music fans outside of Holland, in his own country of origin he is primarily known and loved for his contributions to public art, particularly for creating murals in different public places in Amsterdam. Most art critics still have a hard time trying to describe the unique Herman Brood style, but many of his murals have definitely made a great contribution to the ever young beauty of the Dutch capital.

Herman Brood had a great impact on the following generation of Dutch street and public artists. See also:

Herman Brood as an artist

Discography

• Street (1977)
• Shpritsz (1978)
• Cha Cha (1978)
• Go Nutz (1980)
• Wait a Minute... (1980)
• Modern Times Revive (1981)
• Frisz & Sympatisz (1982)
• The Brood (1984)
• Bühnensucht/Live (1985)
• Yada Yada (1988)
• Hooks (1989)
• Freeze (1990)
• Saturday Night Live! (1992)
• Fresh Poison (1994)
• 50 The Soundtrack (1996)
• Ciao Monkey (2000)

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

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