Eva Simons

Eva Maria Simons is a Dutch singer-songwriter and music video director from Amsterdam. She is best known for her song "Policeman" and collaborations with artists such as Afrojack; in 2012, Simons broke through internationally after being featured on the will.i.am single "This Is Love". During her solo career she has released 12 singles, including "Bludfire" which appeared in November 2015.

Biography

Early life

Raised in Amsterdam, Simons grew up in a family of musicians. Her mother is Ingrid Simons, a backing-singer and vocalist of Surinamese origin, who worked with Paul Elstak and T-Spoon, and was also a member of pop group Say When, whose 1987 single ‘Save Me’ was later reworked into Eurodance album ‘The Rhythm of the Night’ by Corona. Her grandfather was Dutch accordionist Johnny Meijer; her father was a pianist who inspired her to take up the instrument. In her early teens she was part of Jody's Kids, an ensemble that provided vocals for production music. She is a graduate from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In 2001 she sang on the single "I Believe in Love" by Cooper. After graduating in 2004 she entered the Dutch version of the Popstars The Rivals competition, where she was selected as one of the five members of the band Raffish. The five-piece had a hit-single with "Plaything" and released the album How Raffish Are You? in January 2005. Two further singles from the album failed to replicate the success and over the course of the summer of the same year, Simons announced that she was leaving the group.