RIP Sandra Reemer (1950 - 2017)

José Hoebee & Sandra Reemer in 2015

A sad news has been announced on websites and social media: earlier today Dutch pop singer and TV presenter Sandra Reemer has died of breast cancer at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital in Amsterdam at age 66.

She was born on October 17th, 1950 in  Bandung, Indonesia. 

This talented vocalist represented the Netherlands three times at the Eurovision Song Contest. 

In 1972, she sang "Als Het Om De Liefde Gaat" with Andres, finishing 4th. This track was produced by Luv's father Hans van Hemert. 

In 1976, she performed "The Party's Over" (also produced by Van Hemert), finishing 9th. 

In 1979 she returned as Xandra with "Colorado", finishing 12th. This song was co-written by Ferdi Bolland (who was also Sandra Reemer's husband for some time). 

In 1983 she returned to the Eurovision Song Contest, this time as a backup singer for Bernadette who sang "Sing Me A Song" (written by Piet Souer and Martin Duiser). 

Between 1966 and 1975, she was part of the duo "Sandra & Andres". They scored 14 Dutch Top 40 hits. 

Sandra & Andres 

In the 1980s she went solo. She later hosted TV shows (including Wedden, dat..? (1986-1988) on AVRO and "Showmasters" (1988-1989) on NCRV. In the early 1990s, she was involved in several RTL 4 programs ("De Betere Sexe" (1990), "Kans voor een Kind" (1992), "Sandra's Verjaardagsshow" (1992 -1993), "De Zaterdagavond Show" (1992 - 1993) and "Het Beste Van 4" (1993).

In 2000, Sandra teamed up with former ESC participants Marga Bult (1987) and Sjoukje Smit (1980 as Maggie MacNeal) to form The Dutch Divas. In 2001, the ladies scored a minor hit "From New York to L.A" (a cover version of a Patsy Gallant disco classic) on the Dutch Top 100. In 2005, Sandra left the girl group.

Marga, Sandra & Sjouke aka The Dutch Divas

In early 2017, she appeared on the MAX/NPO 1's reality show "Gouden Jaren: Indonesië" (based on BBC One's "The Real Marigold Hotel"). 

In an interview published in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf in March this year, she spoke openly about her cancer diagnosis: "You think or hope it's nothing and that it will go away. My doctor urged me to go to hospital but I always had some sort of excuse to avoid it. Eventually I was diagnosed with breast cancer." Treatment was unfortunately not successful.

On December 14th, 2015 José Hoebee met her at a Christmas drink at NORMA (a foundation in charge of neighbouring rights organization for musicians and actors) in Amsterdam (see news posted on December 20th, 2015). The two singers had a lot in common. They were from the same generation and were part of Hans van Hemert's artist roster.

José wrote a message on her Facebook page:

"Sandra....so many kind messages. People are shocked by your death...me too...I don't want to add something else....Actually we've become closer recently....We clicked....She always sent me nice Whatsapp messages anytime I posted one of her songs...Our convivial appointment won't happen...For Sandra here's another beautiful song.....".  She added a YouTube video of "Storybook children" by Sandra & Andres to her text. 

Hans van Hemert paid tribute to the late artist and posted a couple of her songs on his Facebook page. "I was so proud when you sang this track. I haven't listened to it for years. What a warm and beautiful voice," he wrote. He added a YouTube video of "Love Me Honey" (from 1975) to his message. 

Hans van Hemert & Sandra Reemer at the Nationaal Songfestival (Dutch preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest) in 1976

We would like to express our condolences to family, friends and fans of Sandra Reemer. May she rest in peace.

Source: Facebook, AD.nl, Het Parool, NOS, Volkskrant, NRC, Telegraaf, Eurovision TV, Wikipedia, Discogs.com.....