Froukje

Froukje Veenstra was born in Nieuwkoop into a family of teachers, for whom music always played a central role. She used to play in the band Ginger Squad together with her father and her sister and later in other bands, including Chicks & Wings. When she was 16, she moved to Rotterdam to enrol at Codarts, the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music.^[3][4] Her studies were disrupted from 2020 onward by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of the pandemic, she was also unable to perform in front of an audience.

Her first song "Groter Dan Ik", a protest song about the climate crisis, was released in early 2020. The song had been streamed 1.7 million times in less than one year.^[5] Later that year, her second song "Ik wil dansen" was released. With this single, she entered the Dutch Single Top 100 for the first time.^[6] In January 2021, her first EP Licht en donker was released. It reached the second position in the Dutch Album Top 100.^[6]

In 2022 her second EP Uitzinnig was released. That summer, she performed at several big regional festivals, including Pinkpop Festival, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, Best Kept Secret and Concert at SEA.^{[7][8][9][10][11]} At the end of the year, she had three songs voted into the annual Dutch Top 2000 greatest songs of all time program, the highest being "Ik wil dansen" at No. 397. Throughout 2021, that song was used as a slogan during protests for reopening nightlife that had been shuttered by the pandemic.^[12]

In January 2024, she released her debut album Noodzakelijk verdriet. It debuted at number one in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders).^[13]

Veenstra composes her own music with the help of a laptop, a guitar or a keyboard. Lyrically she is influenced by Maarten van Roozendaal and Theo Nijland. She is also inspired by Eefje de Visser, Typhoon and Stromae.^[3][7]

Veenstra is openly bisexual.^[14] Her single "Niets tussen" was written about being in love with a woman.^[15]

• Froukje – Official site