Roel van Velzen (born March 20, 1978), better known as VanVelzen, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Besides being known for his short stature, standing at a mere 4'11", he and his band enjoy a huge live reputation; they have played at virtually every festival in the Netherlands, shared the stage with Queen's Brian May, and supported Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi and German magastars Reamonn.
VanVelzen's first single, "Baby Get Higher", was a cover of David Sneddon's moderate 2003 hit and peaked at #17 on the Dutch Top 40 and was a huge airplay hit.
His second single, "Burn" was released in January 2007 and was a top 10 hit in The Netherlands. His debut album, Unwind, followed shortly afterwards on 16 March and was a phenomenal all-round hit, debuting at number one on the Dutch charts and remained in the charts for over a year. It won several awards, including the 3FM Award for Best Newcomer, and Best Album at the 2007 TMF Awards.
There were two more singles from the album; "Deep" and "Shine A Little Light" were both released in May 2007.
VanVelzen went on to have a sell-out tour in The Netherlands in 2008 and introduced fans to his new single, "When Summer Ends". The song, which was released in January 2008, VanVelzen wrote with John Ewbank, was the theme song for the summer movie Zomerhitte and is VanVelzen's highest chart hit to date, peaking at #6. The song was nominated for an Edison Award in 2009.
Aside from his own tour, VanVelzen opened for various large acts throughout 2008, including Kelly Clarkson at the Heineken Music Hall and Bon Jovi at the Amsterdam ArenA, as well as several smaller festivals throughout the Netherlands. That year, 3FM gave him the award for Best Live Act.
Towards the end of 2008, several German radio stations began to pick up on VanVelzen's music, particularly "Baby Get Higher", which was used for a TV commercial and peaked at #30 on the German airplay charts. He recorded a new video especially for the German market at the end of 2008.
2009 saw the release of the second single from the forthcoming second album. "On My Way" was released on 15 January 2009 and peaked at #29. The second album was released in two parts; Take Me In was released in May and Hear Me Out followed in September. The two-part was eventually certified Gold in 2010. "Love Song" became the third single from the album and was a huge summer hit in the Netherlands that year.
In the autumn of 2009, DJ Armin van Buuren remixed and released "Broken Tonight", one of the songs from the new album, and the track became a hit in several countries outside of the Netherlands, including making #18 in the United States' Hot Dance Chart.
In 2010, VanVelzen was invited to be a judge on The Voice of Holland, a new style of talent show with 'Blind Auditions', where the judges hear the voice of the artist without seeing their face, a concept that was thought up by VanVelzen himself. VanVelzen went on to mentor the 2010 winner, Ben Saunders.
Towards the end of 2010, VanVelzen embarked on a 34-date Hear Me Out theatre tour of the Netherlands, and every date sold out.
On 3 March, VanVelzen received the prestigious Dutch music award, the Golden Harp, becoming one of only 42 artists to have done so.
In May, VanVelzen released the first single from his forthcoming unnamed album called Too Good To Lose.
