Ozark Henry

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Piet Goddaer (born April 29, 1970 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian musician, better known by his stage name Ozark Henry.

[edit] Biography

In his early life, Piet Goddaer was involved in several local bands. As a rapper in the band Word, founded by his brother Jan, Goddaer scored a cult-hit "Herny Man-She" in 1994.

His career really took off when Piet Goddaer started a solo career and adopted the stage name Ozark Henry. The debut album I'm Seeking Something That Has Already Found Me was released in 1996 with Double T Music. In an interview, David Bowie praised the album as "debut of the year"[1], but the record had little commercial success.

The second album of Ozark Henry, This Last Warm Solitude, was released in Belgium in 1998. The next year, the This Last Warm Solitude was released in The Netherlands, Germany and France, and Piet Goddear received a Zamu Award as best songwriter/composer.

The next album Birthmarks was released in 2001 on Sony Music Entertainment and was the commercial breakthrough for Ozark Henry. The singles "Rescue" and "Sweet Instigator" are hits and Belgium, and the album was certified platinum. Piet Goddaer won two Zamu Awards: best pop/rock and best producer. Henry appeared regularly on television and radio shows that year due to his recent success appearing on chat shows such as Aan tafel.

The fourth Ozark Henry album, The Sailor not the Sea was released in 2004, and was awarded a gold record the next year. Piet Goddear has also won another Zamu Award for best songwriter/composer.

A new album, The Soft Machine, has been released in September 2006.

Piet Goddaer also wrote the music for several theatre projects and the soundtrack of the Belgian television series Sedes & Belli, as well as Crusade in Jeans, a movie based on a children's novel by Thea Beckman.