Anita Meyer

Dutch singer-songwriter and actress, born 29 October 1954 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. A member of [a314047]'s Rainbow Train from 1976 until 1979, she was also a successful solo artist during the late 1970s and 1980s. Before joining Rainbow Train, she performed as part of a duo and was in different bands with her brother René. Meyer first known as part of the supergroup Holland and also a backing vocal for various artists like [a314044]. Her first successful single as a solo artist is her song "The Alternative Way" in 1976. After a few successful singles, the success of the song "The Alternative Way" seemed unmatched, but after a change of record company in 1980, she was accompanied by a new musician and production team. The album Shades of Desire followed and later the single "Why Tell Me, Why" topped the Dutch charts for weeks and would become the best-selling single of 1981. It was the beginning of a period in which Meyer had many hits, including "They Don't Play Our Lovesong Anymore", "Blame It on Love", and a cover of the song "The One That You Love" by the Australian-British Rock band [a256267]. In 1983, she performed with another Dutch singer-songwriter [a378655] for the first time. This began to perform more albums and performances but the success of the singles became more modest. She had the first for a Dutch singer-songwriter with a video clip for the song "Heart of Stone". In 1986, a live-recorded duet with Lee, a cover of the [a97664] song titled "Run to Me", hit the charts. It would (as of now) be Anita's last Dutch Top 10 hit. Meyer decided to slow down in 1992 to spend more time with her family but return to the charts in 1994 with the title song of the RTL 4 program "Het Spijt Me". In 2005, she acted in the music program Het Gevoel Van... and in the following year she participated in the Stage Entertainment production Musicals in Ahoy. In 2006, she played the role of the old glamor cat Grizabella in the musical Cats. In 2011 and 2017, Anita participated in the television program De Beste Zangers van Nederland, in which she performed various songs by other singers. Following that, her #1 hit from 1981, "Why Tell Me, Why", was re-released in the special version with DJ Guilliano. In 2013, Meyer played the role of Maria in The Passion (EO-RKK). In 2013, the Dutch film Chez Nous was released, in which Meyer played the role of the main character Alex Klaasen. Due to performed songs that wasn't originally recorded by Meyer herself (like "Hopelessly Devoted to You" by [a162670] that made various cover versions performed by Delta Goodrem, Juliana Hatfield, [a1124645], and YAØ and [a9101020] among others, "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne & Friends, "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor, "We've Got Tonight" by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, and other songs), Meyer sometimes known as one of the earliest cover singers from the Netherlands before Davina Michelle. Meyer's song "Why Tell Me, Why" (produced by Martin Duiser) is not just popular in New Zealand (where it peaked at #49 there) but also popular in Sweden (although Meyer's original version did not chart there) where singer-songwriter Carola Häggkvist's cover version re-titled "Säg mig var du står" went viral in Swedish parties and Häggkvist later re-recorded this cover version this time as a duet with another Swedish singer-songwriter [a3403812] who known for her song "Never Forget You" (interestly, both Häggkvist and Zara have "Maria" in their middle name).