Henk Wijngaard (NL)

About

Also known as: Henk Weingard

Henk Wijngaard is a Dutch country singer from Stadskanaal who turned his years behind the wheel as a truck driver into a string of hits that made him one of the most recognisable names in Dutch language pop. His 1978 breakthrough 'Met de vlam in de pijp', which he wrote himself, kicked off a run of more than twenty Dutch Top 40 entries, most of them celebrating the truckers' life on the road. That same year, 'Ik zie de wereld door de voorruit van mijn wagen' won Best Non English Song at the International Country Music Awards in Bristol, Tennessee. Over the decades Wijngaard kept churning out levenslied and country flavoured singalongs, racking up twenty number ones in the Dutch language Top 20. 'He Suzie' hit number eight in the Top 40 in 1990, and 'Sneeuwwitte bruidsjurk' spent ten weeks in the charts in 1988. He also has a notable family connection: the father of Canadian country star Shania Twain is his paternal half brother, making Wijngaard her uncle.