Frans Bauer

From an early age, Frans Bauer was determined to become a singer. His great idols are Julio Iglesias, Elvis Presley and Koos Alberts. By the latter, he was sometimes brought on stage to sing along with Ik verscheurde je foto (I shred your photo).

Bauer's own musical career was shaped in 1987, when he recorded his first single Ben je jong (Are you young) under the supervision of producers Riny Schreijenberg and Emile Hartkamp.

Bauer grew to be a local celebrity in the vicinity of the town where he lives, Fijnaart. He got his first national celebrity through the television programme All you need is love (1991), in which , with the permission of his girlfriend Mariska, he got to select two female fans (who both coincidentally are named Diana) to go out with for an evening.

The television show made Bauer famous, though, mostly because of the denial of national radio stations, it was only in 1994 that Bauer achieved his first hit called Als sterren aan de hemel staan (If stars are in the heavens)

With his German Schlager album,Weil Ich Dich Liebe (Because I love you), Bauer also conquered the German market.

In the same year, De Regenboog (The Rainbow), a duet with Dutch singer Marianne Weber reached number 1 in the Dutch charts. The year 1997 for Bauer however ended tragically: two members of his band, returning from a concert, died in a traffic incident.

Thanks to his fans Frans Bauer became more and more popular. In March 1998 he gave his first series of concerts in Ahoy'. Record companies offered millions for a contract.

In 2003 the reality soap De Bauers, about the family life of Frans and Mariska, was a much watched television programme.

Bauer is also ambassador of Villa Pardoes, a Dutch charity organisation for children with life threatening diseases.

In 2004, Bauer, because of his charity work, was appointed to the Order of Orange-Nassau.

In the same year, he won the Gouden Televizier-ring, a Dutch prize for television programmes.