Vengaboys

History

1996–1998: Formation, ''Up and Down'', and ''The Party Album''

The name "Vengaboys" was originally the title of the electronic musical project of Dutch producers Danski and Delmundo as DJs in the early 90s. In 1997 they decided to use the name to produce a pop group, choosing the Moluccan-Dutch singer Kim Sasabone as the vocal lead. After some auditions, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Roy den Burger and Robin Pors were added to complete the group.

In August 1997, the group released their debut single "Parada de Tettas", followed by "To Brazil!" in December 1997 and "Up and Down" in February 1998. In April 1998, the group released their debut album Up & Down – The Party Album in the Netherlands and Belgium. The album was certified gold in the Netherlands. This was followed by "We Like to Party!" in May, which peaked at number 2 on the Dutch charts and at number 1 in Belgium in June 1998.

In October the group released "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and Greatest Hits! Part 1; the album peaked at number 1 on the Dutch chart.

In November 1998, Vengaboys entered the UK Singles Chart at number 4 with "Up and Down". "We Like to Party!" was released internationally in 1999 and was a Top 10 hit in many European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In June 1999, Vengaboys released Greatest Hits! Part 1 as The Party Album; their debut studio album. The single "Boom Boom Boom Boom" topped the charts in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands. In November 1999 "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" was also used in an advert in Japan for Nissan for their Wingroad 5-door estate.

"We're Going to Ibiza", a reworking of Typically Tropical's 1975 number 1 hit "Barbados", also reached the top slot in the Netherlands in September 1999. The LP spent 30 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was certified gold (500,000 units) in November 1999.

The Remix Album was released in January 2000, featuring new dance remixes of the songs from Vengaboys' debut record.

2000–2002: Departure of Pors, ''The Platinum Album'' and hiatus

Shortly before the release of their next studio album, Pors left the group to pursue a solo career and was replaced by dolphin trainer Yorick Bakker.

The Platinum Album was released in early 2000, which saw continued success for the group, as its first three singles "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)", "Shalala Lala" and "Uncle John from Jamaica" all charted in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and Canada, with the first two going on to top the New Zealand charts. For the album's fourth single, "Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song)", the group gained a virtual member, the animated Cheekah.

In 2002 Post-Van Rijswijk and Bakker left the group which ceased its activities.

2007–2009: Return on stage and line-up changes

In 2007, the group returned to the club scene with new member Donny Latupeirissa a.k.a. Ma'Donny, replacing den Burger as Cowboy. Post-Van Rijswijk and Bakker rejoined the group at that point. In 2009, Pors also rejoined the group while Bakker left again.

2010–2013: ''The Best of Vengaboys''

In 2010, the band released a new single, "Rocket To Uranus", a collaboration with singer-songwriter Pete Burns and American celebrity Perez Hilton. The video premiered on 6 June at the Dutch television station TMF, and in 2D and 3D formats on their own website and YouTube channel.

In December 2011, the group released The Best of Vengaboys in Australia. They performed at Trinity May Ball in June 2012.

In January 2013, the group first performed a cover of "Hot, Hot, Hot", during their National Tour in Australia. The song was released in July 2013 as a single.

Around that time, Kim Sasabone became pregnant.

2014–2015: ''X-mas Party Album''

In January 2014, Robin Pors said in an interview in Dubai that the group intended to continue touring in Europe and that they were working on future shows in the Middle East and India, along with performing their greatest hits, their latest single, "Hot, Hot, Hot", and reportedly new unreleased tracks. He also stated that releasing new material was planned for 2014. In May 2014 a new remix from their single "To Brazil" re-titled "2 Brazil" was released.

In November 2014 a new album was released called The X-mas Party Album including all Vengaboys' hits with a Christmas sound. Also, the single "Where Did My X-mas Tree Go" was released together with a new music video. A tour of South Africa was scheduled for December.

2015–2017: Australia and New Zealand tour

In late February 2015, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk said that she was pregnant with her second child.

In 2016, the group toured Australia and New Zealand.

In November and December 2017, Vengaboys supported Steps at their Party on the Dancefloor Tour.

2019: 20th anniversary and ''Unplugged'' EP

In 2019, Vengaboys celebrated their 20th anniversary and released unplugged versions of the songs "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" and "We're Going to Ibiza!" and released an EP titled Unplugged #1's.

2020–2021: Covers and re-mixes

In the summer of 2020, the band released a festival version of their worldwide hit "Up & Down" with Australian DJ and producer Timmy Trumpet, with the new version credited to Timmy Trumpet x Vengaboys.

In September 2021, the band released a cover version of Charli XCX and Troye Sivan's "1999", retitled "1999 (I Wanna Go Back)" and came with a deep fake-style video which saw the cover stars from various 1990s albums lip-syncing to the song and the band put into the Friends title sequence with the sofa and fountain.

In September 2021, Vengaboys took part in 90's Nostalgia: Electric Circus tour in Canada, featuring Eurodance music.

In December 2024, Kim Sasabone announced she was taking a break to rest and would be replaced for the rest of their tour by Cilla Niekoop from Ch!pz.

On 23 July 2025, Vengaboys opened for Scissor Sisters and Kesha at New York's Madison Square Garden for The Tits Out Tour.

Members

;Current

• Kim Sasabone (1997–2004, 2007–2024; currently on hiatus)
• Denise Post-Van Rijswijk (1998–2002, 2007–present)
• Robin Pors (1998–1999, 2009–present)
• Donny Latupeirissa (2007–2011, 2013–2018; 2021–present)

;Former

• Roy den Burger (1998–2004)
• Yorick Bakker (1999–2002, 2007–2009)
• Mark Jong-a-Pin (2002–2004, 2018–2020)
• Lynn Allien (2002–2004)

Touring

• JJ van Zon (2012)
• Cilla Niekoop (2024-present, replacing Kim Sasabone)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:700 height:100 PlotArea = left:75 bottom:20 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1997 till: TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyy ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1997 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1997 Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:album value:black legend:Album

BarData= bar:kim text:Kim Sasabone bar:denise text:Denise Post-Van Rijswijk bar:robin text:Robin Pors bar:donny text:Donny Latupeirissa bar:roy text:Roy den Burger bar:yorick text:Yorick Bakker bar:cilla text:Cilla Niekoop

LineData= color:album at:01/04/1998 at:04/06/1999 at:13/03/2000 at:01/10/1998

PlotData = width:8 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from color:vocals bar:kim from:06/06/1997 till:03/03/2001 bar:kim from:07/07/2007 till:03/12/2024 bar:denise from:02/02/1998 till:03/03/2001 bar:denise from:07/07/2007 till:end bar:roy from:02/02/1998 till:28/02/2001 bar:robin from:02/02/1998 till:08/08/1999 bar:robin from:09/09/2009 till:end bar:yorick from:08/08/1999 till:03/03/2001 bar:yorick from:07/07/2007 till:09/09/2009 bar:donny from:07/07/2007 till:end bar:cilla from:03/12/2024 till:end

Discography

Main article: Vengaboys discography

Regional release

• Up & Down – The Party Album (1998)

Worldwide releases

• The Party Album (1999)
• The Platinum Album (2000)

Tours

• Busssing To The Beach Tour (2013)

• Acceleration Tour (2014)

• The Vengabus is Coming Tour (2018)

• 25th Anniversary Tour (2022)

• ‘90’s Mania Tour (2025)

• #NonStopWorldTour (2025-2026)

References

References

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