Dutch rock-star Anouk, who represented the Netherlands at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, with the dark ballad Birds, has released her album Greatest hits.

Starting with singing from an early age, Anouk rose to fame in 1996 when she released her first single Mood indigo, after being discovered by Barry Hay, front man of the iconic Dutch rock group Golden Earring. Her international breakthrough came in 1997 with the hit-song Nobody’s wife, that reached high positions on the music charts of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Finland, leading up to the release of Anouk’s debut album Together alone.

Up until now, Anouk has released fourteen albums, including studio-albums, live-albums and special editions, and is planning on releasing a brand new album with groove-influences next year. To celebrate her twenty-year anniversary as a solo-artist in the Dutch music-scene, Anouk has now released her greatest hits-album, simply entitled Greatest hits:

Anouk’s Greatest hits tracklist

The 2-disk album features the following songs:

Tracklist 1

1. Nobody’s wife
2. It’s so hard
3. Sacrifice
4. Michel
5. R U kiddin’ me
6. The dark
7. Don’t
8. Everything
9. Hail
10. Girl
11. Lost
12. Jerusalem
13. One word
14. Good God
15. I don’t wanna hurt

Tracklist 2

1. Modern world
2. If I go
3. Three days in a row
4. Woman
5. For bitter or worse
6. Killer bee
7. Down & dirty
8. I’m a cliché
9. Birds
10. Wigger
11. You & I
12. Places to go
13. Hold me (with Douwe Bob)
14. New day
15. Dominique

The album Greatest Hits is now available in record stores, and via iTunes and Spotify.

Of course, Anouk’s 2013 Eurovision Song Contest-entry Birds is included on the album, just as the artist’s duet with the 2016 Dutch Eurovision-representative Douwe Bob, Hold me.

Anouk had wanted to participate in Eurovision for quite some time, but only on her own terms: she would be directly appointed, with total control over song choice and staging. In 2013, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS finally relented after various failed attempts at holding national selections and after pressure from the public and press following Anouk’s bid to represent the Netherlands. Anouk surprised the public with her Eurovision-entry Birds, a melancholic ballad, taken from her album Sad singalong songs, departing from her rock-image and showing another angle of the versatile artist she is. With Birds, Anouk managed to break the eight year spell in which the Netherlands failed to reach the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, reaching a respectable 9th place in the grand final with 114 points. Both the single Birds and the album Sad singalong songs earned critical acclaim and success.

Anouk also wrote the 2015 Dutch Eurovision-entry Walk along for musical colleague and friend Trijntje Oosterhuis, and co-produced Trijntje’s album Walk along. Anouk is widely credited with upgrading the image and popularity of Eurovision in the Netherlands since her participation each year among the highest watched television-events, and initiating broadcaster AVROTROS’ new approach with internally selecting credible and respected Dutch artists for the Eurovision Song Contest, including The Common Linnets (Ilse DeLange and Waylon, 2014), Trijntje Oosterhuis (2015) and Douwe Bob (2016). She is currently also one of the judges and team leaders on the popular TV-show The Voice Of Holland.

Despite her image of being a “rock-chick”, now 40-year young Anouk (born Anouk Teeuwe, The Hague, 1975) is also a devoted mother and family woman. She was briefly married to her former manager Edwin Jansen. Later, she had a relationship with rapper The Anonymous Mis (later Postman, real name Remon Stotijn), member of the rap formation Postmen, with whom she has three children: sons Benjahmin Kingsley, Elijah Jeremiah and daughter Phoenix Ray. With rapper Unorthadox (real name Robert Coenen) she has a son, Jesiah Dox. And in June 2014, the singer gave birth to her fifth child, son Sion Jethro, from a relationship with Dutch basketball-player Seraino Dalgliesh. Anouk, who has always stated she wants a big family, is currently in a happy relationship with basketball-player Dominique Schemmekes, for whom she wrote her only Dutch-language song up until now, Dominique, which is also featured on her album Greatest hits, and does not rule out becoming a mother once more.

Enjoy Anouk performing Birds during the grand final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, once more:

Also listen to Anouk’s duet with the 2016 Dutch Eurovision-representative Douwe Bob, Hold me, also featured on her Greatest hits album:

And here’s Anouk’s latest single, her only Dutch song Dominique, an ode to her current partner Dominique Schemmekes:

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for all the latest news on the Eurovision Song Contest!