Trivia

Sons Robbert Roman de Nijs (born February 8th 1983) and Yoshi Christopher de Nijs (born 1986) with Belinda Meuldijk.

Rob de Nijs entered the first decade of the 21st century with a knighthood.

De Nijs played the first of his two remaining farewell shows in Belgium in 2021. His final farewell concert to the Dutch public took place on 22 June 2022, in Amsterdam. The broadcast of this performance drew 1.2 million viewers.

Singer Boudewijn de Groot and songwriter Lennaert Nijgh helped him relaunch his singing career, and in 1973 he was back in the charts with "Jan Klaassen was Trompetter".

De Nijs appeared as a judge during the finale of the Kinderen voor Kinderen festival [nl] in 1992, where he also performed the VIP-version of Allemaal kabaal (originally from the 11th edition of Kinderen voor Kinderen) with 2 children's choirs (De Waagzangertjes from Alkmaar and De Blokskes from St. Genesius-Rode, Belgium).

In 2016, De Nijs was honoured with the Radio 5 Oeuvre Award, followed by a tribute concert.

De Nijs announced his retirement from performing in September 2019 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. A farewell-tour and a new album were scheduled for 2020, but postponed because of the corona pandemic. That same year he appeared on the talkshow De Wereld Draait Door ("The World Keeps Turning") to perform two new songs.

After his farewell, the band Pur Sang - which musically accompanied de Nijs for more than forty years - gave several major concerts in Flanders focusing on the singer's repertoire, and on February 9, 2025, the musical Malle Babbe premiered. The musical tells the story of De Nijs' life. Despite his physical limitations, de Nijs was able to admire the musical in private during one of the first try-outs.

In 1986, he released an album of covers from the 1950s/1960s-era; it included his version of "Living Doll" shortly after the Comic Relief-remake topped the charts.

De Nijs, supported by The Lords, won a talent contest in 1962 and released the first single, "Ritme van de Regen" (Rhythm of the rain) the same year, which was a great success.

In 1969, De Nijs competed in the Dutch heat of the Eurovision Song Contest and through musicals like Sajjuns Fiksjen, he secured a role in the children's TV series Oebele and Hamelen in which he played Bertram Bierenbroodspot.

Rob de Nijs was a Dutch singer and actor.

His career reached a new peak in 1996 when his song "Banger Hart"became his first and only #1 hit.

His hits continued through 1975-1976, notably "Malle Babbe" and "Zet een Kaars voor Je Raam" (a Dutch translation by Lennaert Nijgh of David McWilliams's "Can I Get There by Candlelight?"). In 1977 De Nijs released Tussen Zomer en Winter, a concept-album chronicling the change from a hot summer's day to a cold winter's night, which starts with the hit song "Het Werd Zomer", a translation from the Peter Maffay song "Und Es War Sommer", and ending with "In De Winter", a translation of the Janis Ian song "In The Winter". The album also features translations of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and The Beach Boys' "Disney Girls (1957)".

By 1967, De Nijs was a free agent; he performed at small venues and worked as a bartender for a living.