Angela Groothuizen was born in
Alkmaar, and has four brothers and sisters. She joined the band Howling Hurricane, of which one of her brothers was a member, and in 1978 they recorded a single, "Dreamt up Rock". That same year she was asked to join a newly formed
girl group, and while she was more rock-oriented, she joined, and in 1979 the
Dolly Dots were officially launched.
Musical career The pop girl group
Dolly Dots achieved popularity inside and outside the Netherlands, scoring hits between 1979 and 1988. She is credited also with discovering
Roberto Jacketti & The Scooters, a Dutch pop group that scored one big hit ("I Save the Day"), and co-producing their first album in 1984. After the split of the Dolly Dots in 1988, Groothuizen teamed up with Ruud Mulder, former guitarist of disco/funk-contemporaries
Spargo, to record as
Angela & the Rude. Additionally she wrote songs for, among others,
Kinderen voor Kinderen and Carmen Gomes. In 1998 the Dots reunited for a one-off concert, which gave rise to a Dolly Dots musical.
Love Me Just a Little Bit More played at The Chassé Theatre in Breda and around the Netherlands during 2004, and closed in early 2005. As result of renewed interest in the group after the musical,
Warner Bros. Records released a Dolly Dots Greatest Hits compilation of the group as well as a DVD. In May 2007, they sold out
Rotterdam Ahoy three nights in a row, and toured the country again in 2008. In March 2008, Groothuizen released a Dutch-language solo album titled
Melk en Honing (Milk and Honey). In July 2009, fellow-Dolly Dot
Ria Brieffies died from lung cancer. At this time Groothuizen and the other Dolly Dots indicated they would never perform together again. However, in 2016 they did come together to perform during a concert of
De Toppers, and in 2020 they announced they would do a tour called
Sisters on Tour through The Netherlands. In 2012, she published a children's book,
Paula en Khalilo. In April 2013 Groothuizen was awarded the
Annie M.G. Schmidt-prijs for her song
Vinkeveen, together with author Jan Beuvig and composer Nico Brandsen. In 2015 she recorded with Nico Brandsen 14
Sinterklaas holiday songs. It was accompanied by a sing-a-long book, which sold 175,000 copies, earning it four times platinum status.
Television career Meanwhile, Groothuizen had begun a television career starting with an adaptation of
Challenge Anneka for
AVRO. Her contract expired in 2005 and was not renewed. Groothuizen has since moved to commercial television as a panel judge on talent show programs, particularly in
Dutch X Factor since 2008. From 2010 until 2012 she was one of the judges on the Dutch version of
The Voice,
The Voice of Holland. In 2019 and 2020 she presented a television show for RTL,
Obese, a weight loss program. She is also active in musical theater; with her show
Label (which includes, besides songs by Dutch writers, a number of songs by
Leonard Cohen) she toured throughout the Netherlands in 2010. ==Discography==