Sharon den Adel

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

Sharon den Adel is a Dutch singer and songwriter, the lead singer of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She was born in 1974 in Waddinxveen and as a child lived in Indonesia for five years. The Balinese dancers she saw there later inspired her movements on stage. From the age of fourteen she performed with various bands, including the blues rock band Kashiro. She has a bachelor's degree in fashion design and worked for a fashion company, until the success of the single Ice Queen came.

Music and breakthrough

In 1996 she founded Within Temptation with her partner Robert Westerholt, at first under the name The Portal. She has never had formal singing lessons, but sings as a mezzo-soprano and practised alone for years, three or four hours a day. Her parents played Pink Floyd, Queen, Santana and Kate Bush. Later she was gripped by Nirvana, Tori Amos and the gothic metal of Paradise Lost, which Westerholt and she cite as an important influence for the combination of growls, heavy guitars and a clear, operatic female voice. She calls the band's work epic and cinematic.

Influence

Besides the band she makes solo work under the name My Indigo, which sounds more intimate. She designs her own stage costumes and the band's merchandise. In 2018 she was the Dutch chair of the jury for the Eurovision Song Contest. Her voice is among the most recognisable in Dutch rock and metal.

Listening

Mentioned in other articles

• Symphonic metal GenreThe Netherlands became a centre of the style: Within Temptation, founded in 1996 around the singer Sharon den Adel, and Epica, founded in 2002, play at festivals all over the world.
• Ice Queen SongThe band makes symphonic metal: heavy guitars combined with orchestral sounds and the clear voice of Sharon den Adel.