Herman Brood (born Zwolle, The Netherlands, 05 November 1946; died Amsterdam, 11 July 2001) was a Dutch rock and roll musician, painter and media personality. Brood was the Dutch personification of "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll". After playing piano in Cuby + Blizzards and several other bands since 1964, Brood started his own group, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, in 1977. The band had their first hit single, Saturday Night, in 1978, from his best known and most succesful studio album, 1978's S...
Herman Brood (born Zwolle, The Netherlands, 05 November 1946; died Amsterdam, 11 July 2001) was a Dutch rock and roll musician, painter and media personality. Brood was the Dutch personification of "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll".
After playing piano in Cuby + Blizzards and several other bands since 1964, Brood started his own group, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, in 1977. The band had their first hit single, Saturday Night, in 1978, from his best known and most succesful studio album, 1978's Shpritsz.
But even more than his music, it was his outspoken statements in the press about sex and drug use that brought Herman Brood into the public arena in the Netherlands. In the early 1980s he was romantically involved with the German artist, Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared in the film Cha Cha. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user in the Netherlands. "It is usual that an artist uses drugs, but tells everybody he doesn't. I admit that it scared me that my popularity could make people start using drugs", he once said in an interview. In the 1990s he took up painting and became as successful as a painter as he was as a musician.
Brood swore off most drugs, reducing his drug use to alcohol and a daily shot of speed. Sadly (and ironically), this healthier lifestyle turned him into an old and weak man, almost overnight. He decided to take matters into his own hands and committed suicide: on 11 July 2001he jumped off the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel's roof at the age of 54.
Close friend, Bart Chabot, wrote about Brood's life in several biographies: "Broodje gezond", "Broodje halfom", "Brood en spelen" and "Broodje springlevend". Admirer, Black Francis, recorded a studio album (Bluefinger) as a tribute to Herman Brood.
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