| Name |
Vaya Con Dios |
| Height |
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| Naionality |
Belgian |
| Date of Birth |
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| Place of Birth |
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| Famous for |
Singing |
Vaya Con Dios is a Belgian musical group founded in 1986 by Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs and Willy Lambregt (the latter subsequently replaced by Jean-Michel Gielen). Their name is Spanish for "Go with God". It is one of the most successful Belgian groups ever.They had some international success with the songs "Just A Friend Of Mine" (a hit in France), "What's a Woman?" (a number 1 hit in the Netherlands in 1990), "Nah Neh Nah", "Don't Cry for Louie", "Puerto Rico", "Heading for a Fall", "Johnny", "Sunny Days" and "Don't Break My Heart". In total, Vaya Con Dios have sold more than 7 million albums and more than 3 million singles.
Dani Klein, the lead singer, and Willy Lambregt had previous success in the band Arbeid Adelt and decided to form the band Vaya Con Dios together with contrabassist Dirk Schoufs, because they shared interests in gypsy music, jazz and opera – genres that they felt were underappreciated in Brussels. Their first single, "Just a Friend of Mine", had a Latin feel and became a big hit in France, selling over 300,000 copies. Willy Lambregt left the group and was replaced by Jean-Michel Gielen.
Even though Vaya Con Dios was successful in Latin countries, the band remained largely unknown in the Netherlands, partially due to being a Belgian band, but also because of their gypsy style. In the summer of 1990 they finally had their breakthrough in the Netherlands with "What's a Woman?" peaking at #1 for three weeks, making Vaya Con Dios the second Belgian artists to have a #1 hit in the Netherlands. (The first was Ivan Heylen in 1974.) The song is about the difficulties of men and women who on one hand need each other, yet sometimes find it hard to understand one other.
In 1991, Klein and Schoufs decided to go their separate ways, and from then on the group consisted of Klein playing with various musicians. On 24 May 1991, Schoufs died of an AIDS-related illness. (He had contracted HIV through his heroin addiction.) The third album, Time Flies, is much more melancholy than its predecessors.
