Will Mart Hoogkamer, Marco Schuitmaker and Yves Berendse get a successor this summer? It certainly seems that way. Justen de Wildt is currently making waves with his hit Cheerio. During 538 King’s Day in Breda, his song was sung along en masse. “Everyone participated from the first second.”
Justen de Wildt has been busy with music for a while, but the 22-year-old singer does not know what he has been experiencing over the past three and a half weeks. His number Cheerio has become a huge hit in that time. He recently received a call in the car from his brother Sven, who is also his manager. He said that bookings suddenly went through the roof. There are now 230 performances planned this year and another hundred are optional.
‘Seems like a dream’
The song has been streamed more than two million times on Spotify, and that number has been growing faster and faster in recent days. “It seems like a dream,” De Wildt tells this site. “I’m experiencing it all, but I don’t believe it yet. It’s bizarrely beautiful, but I never expected this.”
De Wildt grew up in a working-class family from Veenendaal. He knew early on that he wanted to become a folk singer. “I knew it when I was eight Blood, sweat and tears from memory and when I was eleven I said that I wanted to release a single. My parents didn’t know how that worked, but they supported me in everything.”
From an early age he has been working on his music career, which has now really exploded in a short time. “Two years ago I participated in the ‘singer’ section with Edwin Evers and then you are allowed to perform live for a minute and then you are pushed away. Now I am asked for everything and I was even among all the major artists at 538 Koningsdag.”
Goosebumps
An absolute highlight for the novice artist. “I had goosebumps beforehand from the excitement and afterwards from the reception. I didn’t know what to expect, but from the first second everyone sang along with Cheerio. I really could never have imagined that.”
De Wildt seems to be well on its way to the summer hit of 2026. In recent years, the sing-along song of the summer has appeared to come from the Netherlands more often. For example, Mart Hoogkamer (I’m going swimming)Marco Schuitmaker (Guardian Angel) and Yves Berendse (Back in time) their big breakthrough in the hottest months.
“I’m not concerned with that yet, but I enjoy everything that’s happening now,” De Wildt responds to that comparison. But with performances at the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen and The fattest café on the harbor in Ahoy Rotterdam, the folk singer is doing everything he can to ensure that Cheerio remains in everyone’s mind.
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