To honor musician Guus Smeets, a bust of him was unveiled on Saturday in his birthplace Valkenburg. Smeets died in early 2020 at the age of 71 from the consequences of COVID-19.
“Guus is Valkenburger pure sang† He is so involved in the Valkenburg culture that this image had to be created,” says co-initiator Bob Heugen.
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The deceased songwriter Smeets is posthumously honored with the ‘bust’. The statue stands at the foot of the Geulpoort. “The Theodoor Dorrenplein is two minutes from here and that was Guus’ favorite spot,” says initiator Heugen.
The ‘bust’ came about thanks to an idea from the Art and Culture Council Valkenburg and the In Memoriam Guus Smeets working group, supported by the Municipality of Valkenburg and the Art and Culture Council.
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Artist Wil van der Laan created the bronze statue, using photos and videos. When in doubt, he asked for help from Smeets’ sons and girlfriend. “It mainly came down to details: the chin could be a bit more angular, the ears a bit longer. In the end they said: ‘It’s ‘m’,” says Van der Laan.
Gus Smeets
Musician Guus Smeets started the formation Ezzebleef in 1998 with Hans Kengen and brother Roy Smeets. After Kengen’s sudden death in 2003, Smeets continued solo under his stage name Guus Sjmeets. As a lyricist and composer he wrote hundreds of Limburg songs.
Classics
A number of well-known classics by Smeets: Ach wat is ‘t leve sjoen (Frans Theunisz and de Nachraove), Greumele Vla (De Schintaler) and With a spark and a flame (Dries Holten).
He also released several songs under his own name, such as Bove de 50 years together with Ezzebleef and Geul (iech wil diech huére). The image has a QR code with which you can listen to this last song.