Edward Reekers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

Edward Reekers (born May 24, 1957) is a Dutch singer. Most notable is his work as lead singer for Dutch progressive rock band Kayak.

Having been a fan of the band for years, Reekers joined Kayak in 1978. He replaced Max Werner, who became the band's drummer. With Reekers as the new lead singer, Kayak immediately scored their biggest European hit single: "Ruthless Queen". The accompanying album Phantom of the Night reached gold in Holland.

Reekers was with Kayak from 1978 until the split in 1982. He sang on three studio albums, and on the live-album "Eyewitness". During live concerts he played occasional keyboards and electric guitar.

He was not involved in the 1999 reunion of the band, but he did make guest appearances at some concerts in 2003. He even replaced Bert Heerink (Kayak's singer at that time) for an entire concert in 2003, when Heerink had other commitments.

In 2005, Reekers re-joined Kayak as one of the singers on their "Nostradamus"-project. When Bert Heerink left the band after the Nostradamus-tour, Reekers was the band's male lead singer again. By this time, female singer Cindy Oudshoorn was also in the band. During the "Kayakoustic" tour of 2006/2007, Reekers also played recorder, kazoo and various percussion instruments.

Apart from his work with Kayak, Reekers sings backing vocals on many albums from Dutch and Belgian artists. He also lends his voice to commercials and cartoon movies.

He also sings lead vocals -along with many other singers- on some albums by Ayreon, a project of Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen.

Edward Reekers has released 2 solo albums: "The Last Forest" (1981) and "Stages" (1993). On "The Last Forest" Reekers was helped by ex-Kayak members Max Werner and Johan Slager.

He has released many solo singles in English, German and Dutch.