Eva Simons

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Eva Simons is a Dutch singer, songwriter and music video director from Amsterdam. She grew up in a musical family. Her mother, Ingrid Simons, is a backing singer of Surinamese descent, her grandfather was the accordionist Johnny Meijer and her father was a pianist. As a teenager she sang in Jody's Kids, a group that supplied vocals for production music. She graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In 2004 she took part in the Dutch Popstars The Rivals and became a member of the group Raffish, which had a hit with Plaything and released the album How Raffish Are You? in 2005. She left the group that summer.

Music and breakthrough

In 2009 a demo of her song Silly Boy leaked on YouTube, with four million viewers. Some thought it was an unreleased single by Lady Gaga or Rihanna. She then signed with EMI. With the songwriting duo Topline Ink she wrote Take Over Control, which DJ Afrojack produced. The song spent six weeks in the American Top Dance Airplay chart and became a dance classic worldwide. In 2011 she signed a major American contract and sang on LMFAO's Best Night. She also worked with will.i.am, and her breakthrough abroad came in 2012 with the single This Is Love. Policeman is her best-known song of her own.

Influence

Eva Simons represents the generation of Dutch artists who broke through internationally in the 2010s via the dance scene. She combines pop vocals with the electronic production of DJs, a collaboration that dominated the charts in that period.

Listening

Mentioned in other articles

• Take Over Control SongIn August 2010 DJ Afrojack from Spijkenisse released Take Over Control, with the singer Eva Simons.