Robert Long

Robert Long (born as Jan Gerrit Bob Arend Leverman in Utrecht, The Netherlands on October 22 nd 1943 - Antwerpen, Belgium 13 of December 2006 was a Dutch singer/songwriter, theatre performer and TV host.

In 1963 under the moniker Bob Revvel he formed the band "The Yelping Jackals". In 1967 he switched to front another band Gloria, later renamed Unit Gloria. He left the group to work on a solo career.

He released his first solo album, Vroeger Of Later, on which he criticised Dutch politics and sung about homosexuality and the Church, which was very unusual for that time. Vroeger Of Later sold over 500.000 copies and spent 118 week in the charts. A unique feat for an album made in the Dutch language.

Between 1974 and 1986 Robert Long worked on several theatre shows, mostly based on his songs and records. When he got tired of touring he started a career as a TV host. For seven years, he hosted the popular VARA game show Tien Voor Taal.

He returned to the stage in 1996 with the show Nu, a collection of new and old songs. In 2002 Long released his critically acclaimed album Brand!, on which he returned to the sound of his first album. Due to health problems Long had to cancel the second leg of his Brand! tour.

In 2005 Long married his long-time boyfriend and manager Kristof Rutsaert. The wedding took place on the border of The Netherlands and Belgium, as Rutsaert is from Belgium and Long was Dutch.

After recovery he started to work on new material for a new tour, 'n Duivels Genoegen. Just before the tour started Robert Long suffered a heart-attack. Again he was forced to cancel his shows to concentrate on his recovery. Autumn '06 the CD was released which was supposed to accompany the cancelled tour.

In December 2006, the news was announced Long had cancer. Robert Long died in Antwerp (Belgium) on 13 December 2006, at the age of 63.