Vengaboys

The Vengaboys are a Dutch Eurodance group based in Rotterdam. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (Danski and Delmundo), the group consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone, vocalist Denise Post-Van Rijswijk and male vocalists Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa.

The Vengaboys enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their hit singles "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!", "We're Going to Ibiza" and "We Like to Party" the former two of which topped the charts in the United Kingdom. They have sold an estimated 25 million records worldwide. On 2 May 2001, the World Music Awards awarded Vengaboys with the award for best-selling dance group of the year.

1996–98: Formation and Up and Down
Dutch producers Danski and Delmundo initially found success organizing illegal beach parties during the summers. Danski and Delmundo recruited singer Kim Sasabone for the music videos, to form a group In 1996. The name Vengaboys was thought up during a recording session for another of Danski and Delmundo's projects, called Nakatomi. The group recorded several single tracks such as their two small Benelux hits "Parada De Tettas" and "To Brazil", which were released as singles before the release of the tracks as a debut album titled Up & Down - The Party Album in the Netherlands.

1998–99: Second Line-up and The Party Album
In 1998, with the addition of the three new members Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Roy den Burger and Robin Pors to current member Sasabone, the now four-piece entered the UK chart at number 4 with "Up and Down" and their follow-up "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" peaked at number 1 in Belgium and was a Top 10 hit in other European countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Vengaboys released their second album titled The Party Album featuring both, some classics and new tracks. In June 1999, "Boom Boom Boom Boom" topped the charts in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands. "We Like to Party" was used in a Six Flags advertisement campaign in America, featuring an elderly gentleman (Mr. Six) dancing to the tune and picking up passengers. "The Party Album!" soared to the top of the charts in over 20 countries including the U.K., Canada, Germany, Benelux, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Poland, Australia and Mexico. "We're Going to Ibiza", a reworking of Typically Tropical's 1975 number 1 hit "Barbados", also reached the top slot in September 1999. Their debut LP spent 30 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified gold (500,000 units) in November 1999. "The Party Album!" was once again released under a new name, this time known as "Greatest Hits - Part 1", which featured five new songs. The Remix Album was released in late 1999, featuring new dance remixes of the songs from the Vengaboys' debut record.

2000–02: Departure of Pors, The Platinum Album and Hiatus
Shortly before the release of their third studio album, Pors left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced by dolphin trainer Yorick Bakker. The Platinum Album was released in early 2000, which saw continued success for the group. More UK and Canadian Top 10 hits followed: "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)", "Shalala Lala" and "Uncle John from Jamaica" all charted, with the former going to number one on the Irish Charts. For their fourth single, the group gained a virtual member, the computer-animated Cheekah. The single "Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)" was not as successful as their previous singles. They released their single "Forever as One" in February 2001 with little promotion. The single charted at 28 in the UK, making it their worst-performing single. Shortly after this release, Post-Van Rijswijk and Bakker left the group, with Lynn Bartels and Mark Jong a Pin replacing them. The group eventually disbanded for several years. Owing to the fact this fourth line-up did not last long and resulted in no new material, Bartels and Jong a Pin have never been officially recognized as former Vengaboys members. Post-van Rijswijk gave birth to her first child during her departure from the group.

2006–08: Return on Stage and Line-up changes
In 2006 they returned to the club scene with new member Donny Latupeirissa a.k.a. Ma'Donny, replacing den Burger as Cowboy and later Pors returning in 2009 to the group replacing Bakker, whose return was for a short time. They have most recently been touring university student union clubs in the UK and Ireland, most notably the UCD 2010 Ball, with an estimated 9000 attendees. Throughout 2008 and 2009, the group continued to tour on a small scale, while various rumors of new tracks including "Partylife" in 2008 and a re-release of old material in 2009 generated publicity.

2009–11: Comeback and The Best of Vengaboys
In the spring of 2010, The Vengaboys confirmed via their website, Twitter and at their live gigs that their comeback single would be called "Rocket To Uranus" and feature singer-songwriter Pete Burns and American celebrity Perez Hilton, who co-wrote the song. It was only released in their home country in June 2010. The world premiere was confirmed via the band's Twitter account, announcing the premiere on 4 June on the Dutch radio station Radio 538. The video premiered on 6 June at the Dutch television station TMF, and in 2D and 3D formats on their own website and YouTube channel. They were due to release a Best of in Australia on 9 December 2011.

2012–13: Single releases
In 2012, JJ Van Zon briefly replaced Donny Latupeirissa for a short time as the Cowboy. November 2012, Ma'Donny returned to the group to reclaim his role as Cowboy. Also in 2012, Vengaboys began performing a cover of T-Spoons song "Sex On The Beach" in their live shows, but it is unknown if the song will be released officially by Vengaboys in the future. In early April 2013, It has been announced through their official Twitter and Facebook pages that a new music video is in the works. The latest single will be entitled "Hot, Hot, Hot", a cover of the 1983 hit originally by 'Arrow' as small hints of the song was posted on their Twitter account. The song will be released on 8 July 2013, no international release has been announced yet. The song was performed during their National Tour in Australia back in January and live footage of the track has been uploaded via YouTube. Also, Sasabone announced that she has become pregnant. As of July 25, "Hot, Hot, Hot" was released with an unsuspected announcement on their Official Facebook and Twitter pages. The single features 13 remixes. The single was released Worldwide except France on iTunes. The group continues to maintain a busy tour schedule, with most shows based in Europe and Australia.

2014–15: Xmas Party Album
On January 2014, Pors mentioned in an interview in Dubai that the group will continue to tour in Europe and are currently working on future shows in the Middle East and India, along with performing their greatest hits, their latest single, Hot, Hot, Hot and reportedly new unreleased tracks. He also stated that releasing new material is on their agenda for 2014. In May 2014 a new Remix from her Single "To Brazil" re-titled "2 Brazil" has been released. In November 2014 a new album was released called The Xmas Party Album with all the Vengaboys classic hits with a Xmas sound also a new single was released Where Did My Xmas Tree Go together with a new music video. They have announced via their website and probably soon to break via MyCityByNight that they are travelling on their much-anticipated tour to South Africa in December.

2015–present: Ellington Vengaboys Museum and Denise PVR pregnancy
In late February 2015, Vengaboys announced via Facebook that Denise Post-Van Rijswijk was pregnant with her second child and it will be a girl. In October 2015, the world's first Vengaboys Museum named the Ellington Vengaboys Museum was launched in Ellington, New York and is run by museum curator Cam Textor. In late October 2015, Vengaboys announced to the Museum via Facebook that they made the Ellington Vengaboys Museum an official subsidiary of Vengaboys.

Members
Other Members:
 * Cam Textor (Curator of the Ellington Vengaboys Museum)
 * Cheekah (A digitally animated robot featured in the video clip Cheekah Bow Bow, released in September 2000, Cheekah said to be the 5th member of the group, but no other material had been released)
 * Eefje Baesjou (Brief replacement for then pregnant Post-Van Rijswijk in 2015, but no material had been released)
 * Frank Bethlehem (Vengaboys Sound Engineer since they started, died on 14 December 2014 from a stroke)
 * JJ van Zon (Brief replacement for Latupeirissa in 2012, but no material had been released)
 * Kim Ley (Brief replacement for then pregnant Sasabone in 2013, but no material had been released)
 * Lynn Bartels (2002–2004) (Replacement for then pregnant Post-Van Rijswijk, but the band was already on hiatus and no material had been released)
 * Mark Jong a Pin (2002–2004) (Replacement for Bakker, but the band was already on hiatus and no material had been released)
 * Olivia Ovington (1996-1997) (Background singer for their early tracks, to support lead singer Kim Sasabone)
 * Rachael Carpenter (1996-1997) (Background singer for their early tracks, to support lead singer Kim Sasabone)

Discography

 * The Party Album (1999)
 * The Platinum Album (2000)
 * Xmas Party Album (2014)