Benedictus Albertus Annegarn was born in the Hague (Netherlands) on May 9th 1952. If people have often thought he is Belgian, it is because, when he was only six, he went to live in Brussels, where he went to the Ecole Européenne from 1958 to 1970. He had no formal musical training, but learnt (brilliantly) the guitar on his brother’s instrument.  

He enrolled in the Agronomy faculty in Louvain. However, he had already caught the music and poetry virus and emigrated to Paris in 1972 to try his luck as a singer. In truth, apart from music, it was also the idea of living in a community which attracted him to France. After a period spent in Lozère, a department in the Massif central which had become a pole of the French hippy exodus from the cities, he returned to Paris and quickly became known in the folk music milieu at the American Center at La Mutualité. 

Mireille

The musician Mireille, a legendary figure of French music, spotted Dick Annegarn and took him under her wing at her Petit Conservatoire, highly respected at that time. Françoise Hardy and Hugues Aufray had studied there. A gifted songwriter, Annegarn soon made a name with his political, avant-garde and Surrealist lyrics. But already he was beginning to get tired of Paris life, of its hypocrisy and the superficiality of its artistic circles, and was about to return to Belgium when Jacques Bedos, artistic director at WEA took an interest in him. Thanks to Bedos, Dick Annegarn recorded his first album, "Sacré Géranium", released in December 1973. The disc included several of his greatest songs, such as "Ubu", "Bébé éléphant" and, of course, "Bruxelles". 

In March 1974, he topped the bill at L’Olympia, proof of his rapid acceptance by the music profession. In September, he returned to Olympia, following this up with the Palais des Sports and several tours.  

His second album, "Je te vois", came out in February 75, followed shortly afterwards by "Mireille" in November. From November to January 76 he went on tour in France and then Canada. 

74 was also the year he met Albert Marcoeur, an unusual and little known musician whose avant-garde, unclassifiable work had earned him the name of the "French Frank Zappa". Such an artist could only please Dick Annegarn. He shared the bill with him at L’Olympia in October 75 and the following year they produced the album, "Anticyclone" together.  

1977: "Zoum"

From March 2nd to March 6th 1976, Annegarn played at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. In 77, he released the album "Zoum", then left on a long tour which in 78 resulted in the live album "De ce spectacle ici sur terre". Dick Annegarn chose the press conference for the release of this record to administer a slap to the face of the French music business: he announced he was quitting music because of the conformity and hypocrisy which reigned in a milieu in which he had always felt estranged. He was so disgusted he preferred freedom to compromise and overnight, Dick Annegarn disappeared from the music scene. But if the profession held this against him, the public, although disappointed, supported his decision. 

A new life began for the singer. Nevertheless he did not entirely disappear form the limelight. After another stay in Lozère, he brought out an album in 1979, "Egmont & FF Boom", with the Belgian, Daniel Schell, as well as the live album, "Ferraillages". 

Polyvalence 

During the eighties, he lived on a barge moored at Noisy le Grand in the Paris suburbs where for several years he took an active part in local life by founding several local community associations. Annegarn attached great importance to these community groups and spent a lot of time with suburban youth from varied social and racial horizons. He even opened a café-corner shop and started a centre for amateur journalists. The local authorities, however, were not always as benevolent as they might have been. During this period he also made trips to the Maghreb, Cambodia and Ethiopia, and Morocco became a second home.   

On the music front, Dick Annegarn continued to appear occasionally during the Eighties. In 1981, he released the album, "Citoyen", with musician Jean-Philippe Goude and performed at Bobino in Paris for three nights in June. In 1984, he brought out "140 BXL", followed in 1985 by "Frères", one of his best albums, arranged by accordionist Richard Galliano. Also that year, in April, he was invited to the Printemps de Bourges festival. In November 86, he played at the 4000 seat Zenith auditorium in Paris, proof that his fans had not forgotten him and a chance for the music press to resuscitate an artist they seemed to have forgotten. 

Annegarn liked to mix theatre and music, which he did in 1987 in his show, "Un Belge imaginaire". In 88, he showed his gift for jazz improvisation at the Le Mans festival in Western France and continued in this vein in 1989, playing with the Dick Annegarn group at the Paris jazz venue, the New Morning.  

In spite of everything, music was still his principal activity. He wrote the score for Thomas Bardinet’s first film, "Le Cri de Tarzan" and published an anthology of his early lyrics. He also staged a play he had written, "2112", a multimedia political fantasy.

He again played at the New Morning on September 28th 1995, then performed in Lille in Northern France from October 11th to 16th. He had moved to the Lille suburbs, to Wazemmes, a working class area where he felt at home. 

Vincent Frèrebeau, artistic director of WEA, signed Dick Annegarn on the Tôt ou Tard label and he began writing and recording a new album. In April, he was back at the New Morning club with the Tir-Corde quartet, whom he had met in Lille. After this, he went on tour with Mathieu Boogaerts, a 27 year-old singer discovered in 96 with his intimate and minimalist album, "Super". The two artists, despite their 28 year age difference, had very similar repertoires and tastes, and the series of concerts they gave together was a real success. 

In November 97, the release of the album "Approche-toi", marked the media-comeback of an artist who, twenty years earlier, had fled the superficiality of the music business. Considered a suicidal act at the time, it ultimately led to Annegarn’s artistic rebirth.  

In March '98, Annegarn brought the house down in Paris, performing three concerts at the Bataclan (26-28 March) with his Maroccan musician friend Raïs M'Hand. (When M'Hand, a former shepherd and fisherman from Essaouira, went on to record his debut album, Annegarn would also step in to take care of the production).

Following his success at the Bataclan, Annegarn turned his attention to touring again. Then at the beginning of '99 the singer disappeared into the studio, setting to work on a new album with his loyal artistic director Vincent Frèrebeau. Annegarn's new album "Adieu verdure", recorded in studios in Paris, Brussels and New York, featured a moody mix of blues and r'n'b. Released in April '99, "Adieu verdure" included a special contribution from Annegarn's compatriot Mathieu Boogaerts (who provided superb guest vocals on the track "Rhapsode") and the excellent "Que toi" (chosen as the first single release).

Live At the Cirque d'Hiver

Annegarn took a couple of days off from his hectic tour schedule to give a memorable performance at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris (7th-9th October 1999). This magnificent indoor circus in the heart of Paris provided an exceptional backdrop for his show and Annegarn was welcomed into the ring by the legendary circus ringmaster Sampion Bouglione. Annegarn's concerts at the Cirque d'Hiver featured on the singer's new live album, "Dick Annegarn au Cirque d'Hiver", which was released a few months later.

While continuing his hectic tour schedule throughout the spring of 2000, Annegarn made a major change to his lifestyle, leaving the industrial town of Wazemmes in the north of France and relocating to the magnificent mountain landscape of the Pyrenees. In the autumn of 2000 Annegarn hit the road again, heading off for a new series of concerts in Brussels, Nancy and Beirut.

On December, 2nd, a party entitled "Nuit Dick Annegarn" was organised by ADAMI et al (a company administrating artists and musicians’ copyrights) at the Trianon in Paris. That evening was particularly rich in musical encounters and interactions as the singer Dick Annegarn was accompanied by Mathieu Boogaerts, M, Joseph Racaille and his "Ukulele Club de Paris". French photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino also attended the show. Annegarn used the opportunity of that evening to show the public a CD-Rom featuring his songs and illustrated by many famous comic designers. This CD-Rom was released in December.

At the beginning of February 2001, Dick Annegarn hit the road again for a few gigs across France. Unfortunately, his project of getting cartoonists on stage with him had to be partially abandoned. After this tour, the singer resumed writing his new album which he recorded in the middle of the summer.

The album, "Un'Ombre" (named after an old Annegarn hit) arrived in record stores at the beginning of March 2002. "Un'Ombre" was a much darker, more personal and introspective work than Annegarn’s previous albums. The album included re-recordings of a number of old songs, but also featured new material on which the singer evoked his passion for music, the French countryside, Morocco and his fellow man. Annegarn hit the road to promote his new album shortly afterwards, touring the length and breadth of France. He also performed a series of concerts in Quebec (in August 2002) and Macedonia (in September 2002).

Calming down

Annegarn took up his travels again shortly afterwards, heading out to Morocco again in 2004 to make a series of recordings of Berber music in Tiznit (in the south of the country). Annegarn's intention was to make an album of this traditional music and bring it to the attention of a wider audience, but unfortunately he failed to find a distributor. The recordings he made in Tiznit can be directly listened to on his website, however.

Meanwhile, Annegarn was busy working on his new solo album, "Plouc." The album, which featured a dozen songs largely inspired by the new "peasant" lifestyle he had adopted in the depths of the Toulouse countryside, came out in February 2005. Annegarn's tranquil new surroundings certainly appeared to have a positive effect on his creative process. His new album featured basic, pared-down arrangements and many of the tracks, such as "L'arborescence", revolved around simple vocals and guitar. But, despite the calm overtones on "Plouc", tracks such as "j2m" (a reference to Jean-Marie Messier, the controversial director of Vivendi/Universal) showed that Annegarn had lost none of his fighting spirit or caustic wit. Other highlights of the new album included a Boby Lapointe-style brass band number entitled "Accordons."

One year later, on 6 March 2006, a Dick Annegarn tribute album was released on Tôt ou Tard. The album, entitled "Le grand dîner", featured contributions from a host of famous French and Belgian artists including M and Arno (covering "Ubu"), Alain Bashung ("Bruxelles"), Christophe ("Ça pue"), Sanseverino ("Mireille") and JP Nataf and Jeanne Cherhal duetting on "Belle vallée." All of the singers involved in this covers project were given 'carte blanche' to adapt the Annegarn originals with their own specific style and arrangements and this made for an interesting musical mix, both on record and at the live shows that followed the album's release. The Annegarn tribute singers got together live on stage at Le Bataclan, in Paris, on 6 April 2008 then embarked upon an extensive tour of France.

Tôt ou Tard went on to make another major Annegarn release on 26 November 2007, bringing out a special boxed set of three of the singer's albums which had been recorded on the Nocturne label between 1985 and 1999. "Les années Nocturne" featured remastered editions of "Frères?", "Ullegara" and "Chansons fleuves" - all of which had become almost impossible to find in record stores. "Les années Nocturne" was released in Belgium on 25 January 2008 on the Belgian label Bang.

Meanwhile, Dick Annegarn continued to perform extensively on the live circuit himself, performing a series of concerts across France (sometimes with friends from "Le grand dîner", sometimes without) through until the spring of 2008.

2008 : "Soleil du soir"

In the summer of 2008, Annegarn headed off to New York to record his new album in the Big Apple. He worked in the prestigious Sear Sound studios there, recruiting the services of an impressive list of collaborators including Freddy Koella (famous for his guitar work with the likes of Bob Dylan and Zachary Richard), singer Yael Naïm, David Donatien and Joseph Racaille. Once again, Vincent Frérebeau from the Tôt ou Tard label, supervised the entire undertaking as artistic director. The recording sessions were finished in five days flat and the poetically-titled album, "Soleil du soir" (Evening sun), was released in France on 3 November 2008.

"Soleil du soir", an album evidently influenced by folk and blues, featured banjo, guitar and a number of interludes  on the Dobro (an acoustic guitar with a metal resonator built into its body). On his new album, Annegarn paid tribute to legendary figures such as Jacques Brel and the French author George Perec and also sought inspiration in letters the painter Vincent Van Gogh had written to his brother, Theo ("Théo"). "Soleil du soir" was, both musically and lyrically speaking, a darker, more pared-back work recalling the mood of Annegarn's earliest offerings. The singer, who took some time feeling comfortable with the recognition he has received in his thirty-five year career, is increasingly in vogue these days. The video clip to "Soleil du soir" was produced by none other than the trendy French film director Michel Gondry. Annegarn is now set to hit the road and play a series of concerts throughout 2009.

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