Wouter Hardy (Dutch: [ˈʋʌutər ˈɦɑrdi]; born 3 April 1991), also known by his stage name HRDY, is a Dutch musician, songwriter and producer.[1] He is known for his work with, among others, Duncan Laurence, Gjon's Tears and Alika Milova.
Wouter Hardy | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | HRDY |
| Born | 3 April 1991 Boxtel, Netherlands |
| Genres | Pop music |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Labels | Sony Music Publishing |
| Website | wouterhardy hrdy |
Career
editHardy was born and raised in Boxtel, North Brabant.[2] After graduating from the Rock City Institute in Eindhoven, he moved to Rotterdam to study at the Codarts University for the Arts.[2][3] During his studies, he joined the band of Sharon Kovacs, with whom he toured through Europe until 2016.[2][3]
In late 2016, Hardy met Duncan Laurence through Sony Music Publishing.[3] Together, they worked on the song "Arcade" for two years.[3] Prior to its public release, the song was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[4] "Arcade" went on to win the competition, giving the Netherlands its first Eurovision win since 1975, and became one of the most successful Eurovision Song Contest winning entries on streaming platforms and international charts in recent history.[5]
Following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Hardy was invited to participate in a songwriting camp in Zürich to help write a new song for the Swiss representative Gjon's Tears for the 2021 edition.[6] Together with Gjon's Tears and the Belgian songwriter Nina Sampermans, he wrote the song "Ground Zero", which was later translated into French as "Tout l'univers".[6] Out of five finalists, a professional jury ultimately chose this song to represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.[6] At Eurovision, the entry finished in third place with 432 points, Switzerland's best placement since 1993.
In December 2022, it was announced that Hardy and Sampermans will be participating in the 2023 edition of Eesti Laul, the Estonian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, as co-writers of the entry "Bridges" by Alika.[7] "Bridges" eventually won the competition and thus became the Estonian entry for the 2023 contest, where it finished in eighth place with 168 points.[8]
Discography
editExtended plays
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Lockdown EP |
|
| Making Memories EP |
|
Singles
edit| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "A New Dawn" | 2021 | Lockdown EP |
| "Brother" | ||
| "Sunday" | ||
| "Forgiven" | ||
| "Making Memories" | Making Memories EP | |
| "Me and My Piano" | ||
| "Empty" | 2022 | |
| "Dad" |
Songwriting discography
edit| Title | Year | Artist | Co-written with |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Arcade" | 2019 | Duncan Laurence | Duncan de Moor, Will Knox, Joel Sjöö |
| "Caroline" | 2020 | Nambyar | Jesse Nambiar, Joel Sjöö, Morien van der Tang |
| "Tout l'univers" | 2021 | Gjon's Tears | Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Nina Sampermans |
| "Long Night" | Ola | Olamide Polet, Nina Sampermans | |
| "Snow in New York" | Cheryl van Tricht | — | |
| "Wasted Time" | Charles | Charlotte Foret, Nina Sampermans | |
| "Riddle" | |||
| "Without You" | |||
| "The Fall" | |||
| "Far Gone" | |||
| "He Knows" | |||
| "Stars" | Duncan Laurence | Duncan de Moor, Jordan Garfield, Brett McLaughlin | |
| "Alright" | Hanin al Kadamani | Hanin al Kadamani, Amber Gomaa, Billie Maluw | |
| "Er is nog zo veel" | Stef Bos, Lucas Hamming and Friday | — | |
| "Als jij maar bij me bent" | 2022 | Meau | Meau Hewitt |
| "Half a World Away" | Remme feat. Clara Mae | Remme ter Haar, Clara Hagman, Isa Azier | |
| "Know" | Dion Cooper | Dion Cooper, Jordan Garfield, Loek van der Grinten, Duncan de Moor | |
| "Bridges" | Alika | Alika Milova, Nina Sampermans | |
| "Skyboy" | 2023 | Duncan Laurence | Duncan de Moor, Jordan Garfield |
Eurovision Song Contest entries
edit| Year | Country | Song | Artist | Semi-final | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Points | Place | Points | ||||
| 2019 |  Netherlands
|
"Arcade" | Duncan Laurence | 1 | 280 | 1 | 498 |
| 2021 |  Switzerland
|
"Tout l'univers" | Gjon's Tears | 1 | 291 | 3 | 432 |
| 2023 |  Estonia
|
"Bridges" | Alika | 10 | 74 | 8 | 168 |
References
edit- ^ "About Me". Wouter Hardy. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Liukku, Antti (21 May 2019). "In dit studiootje op Rotterdam-Zuid werd Duncans prijswinnende hit gemaakt". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Hoogh, Helmut de (27 November 2019). "Wouter schreef aan Arcade: 'Duncan vond mij de boeman'". Metro (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "Hoe Duncan Laurence Nederland aan een overwinning op het Songfestival hielp". NPO Radio 2 (in Dutch). 18 May 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "'Arcade': the story of its continued success". Eurovision.tv. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Vendel, Edward van de (11 April 2021). "Wouter Hardy: mijn nieuwe tijdperk". Eurostory (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Vendel, Edward van de (4 December 2022). "Wouter doet weer Eurovisie". Eurostory. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- ^ "Alika's first impressions after winning Eesti Laul 2023!". ESCBubble. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-07.