From serving coffee to a sold-out Ziggo Dome: 2023 was Claude’s jubilee year

The tentative announcement for a crazy year came at the end of last year, when Claude’s first single ‘Ladada (Mon dernier mot)’ immediately went through the roof.

“I had not taken into account that this could happen. But it is bizarre how it is now being picked up everywhere,” he says when NH visits him in November 2022 in his hometown of Enkhuizen. But it turns out: earworm ‘Ladada’ is only a start for what awaits him in the next twelve months.

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Golden record

In Groningen, at the showcase festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, Claude receives in January a gold record. This is because his debut song had 8.6 million streams in the Netherlands. “No, seriously?” is his first reaction when DJ Igmar Felicia walks on stage with the gold record. “Incroyable,” he wrote on Instagram.

At that time, ‘Ladada’ had been dominating the top 40 for weeks and abroad was beckoning. A French version will be played on the radio there and an English/French version will be released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Not much later – in March – Ladada even becomes platinum. And then double platinum. The song has now been listened to almost 47 million times on Spotify alone.

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Cross the tour

The comparison with the Belgian superstar Stromae is never far away. It is not without reason that ‘Ladada’ is strongly inspired by the music of Claude’s musical hero. “I especially like how he sometimes manages to process sad events into danceable and cheerful songs. I also did that a bit with ‘Ladada’. It is sad and cheerful at the same time.”

The joy is great when it is announced that Claude the supporting programme from his sold-out shows in the Ziggo Dome. A dream that comes true, but that is just as quickly disrupted. Stromae has to put an end to his entire tour due to illness.

Worthy successor

It’s just a small bend in a curve that goes straight up. Claude wins a 3FM award for ‘best newcomer’. ‘Ladada’ gets a worthy successor in the equally catchy ‘Layla’. This number also reaches quickly the gold status.

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Royal fans

The stages on which Claude sings his songs are getting bigger and bigger. Singing like this during King’s Day thousands of people with him and he will play for the king during a concert on Liberation Day Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima. And the Enkhuizer is also well known in royal circles. “How bizarre! The king and queen singing along,” Claude writes about this moment.

On the center spot

At major festivals such as Paaspop, Concert at Sea and Sand, but he also conquers many more hearts at the local Dijkpop in Andijk. He also joins occasional band The Streamers, which performs in the Gelredome.

The KNVB invites him to give a surprise performance for the Netherlands-France match. 50,000 football supporters enjoy ‘Ladada’ and the song ‘Formidable’, by – there he is again – Stromae. His reaction afterwards was short but striking: “Woow, INSANE!!”.

Occasionally – if the agenda allows it – he takes up his old job in a restaurant in Enkhuizen and serves unsuspecting visitors, who bump into each other. “That’s?”

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Still in Ziggo Dome

Performing in the largest venue in the Netherlands, the Ziggo Dome: it happens eventually. It didn’t work out with Stromae, but it did with the duo Suzan & Freek. He scored a third hit with them in the summer: ‘Vas-y (Go Maar)’.

He will perform no fewer than four times in front of 16,000 people. The boy who worked in the station restaurant in Enkhuizen a year earlier has become a star. Not only does he provide the supporting act, he is also part of the show through the musical collaboration.

Own club tour in 2024

In October Claude announces his own club tour. In the new year he will visit venues in Tilburg, Amsterdam, Groningen, Arnhem, Utrecht and Hoorn. On April 20 he will play in a sold-out Manifesto in his own West Friesland.

The Enkhuizer’s dream year is once again underlined by the end-of-year lists. On Spotify, ‘Ladada’ ends up at number 4 of the most streamed songs in the Netherlands of 2023. “It’s bizarre what’s happening here,” he says on Instagram. “MERCI BEAUCOUP!”