The last round
By ANP / RTL Boulevard July 21, 2024 Modified: July 21, 2024
RTL
Belgian singer Johan Verminnen (73) has announced his farewell tour. The Flemish chansonnier will bid farewell to his audience with his next programme, reports VRT.
Johan announced his last tour in the program On the move with Michael on Radio 1 of the VRT. The tour is called The Last RoundThat’s quite a coincidence, because this was also the name of the farewell tour of Youp van ‘t Hek, who gave his last performance in Carré in May.
The singer speaks of ‘a well-considered decision’. “I have seen many colleagues, fellow fighters with great talent, disappear in recent years without being able to say goodbye to their audience.” Johan also thinks it is time to make room for a new generation, he says. “Of course, that career is slowly going downhill. That is also normal: there are young, different people who are taking over the terrain.”
The last tour starts in the Belgian town of Wemmel and ends in Deinze, because these two places are important to the singer. He grew up in Wemmel, Johan currently lives in Deinze. The singer will also release one more album with new material around his new tour.
Writing new music was difficult for him, he confessed on Radio 1: “The corona period actually blocked me as a writer. Contact with a very talented person helped me get back on track. That was singer-songwriter Wouter Berlaen. Together with him I am now creating that repertoire.”
Johan has been performing since the early 70s. Well-known songs by him include Everyone with their own flag, Don’t leave me alone now, Brussel in In Butchers StreetHe worked, especially in his early years, a lot with colleagues such as Will Tura and Raymond van het Groenewoud.
