Schuurman was born in Utrecht and raised in
Bunnik as the daughter of a Dutch father and a
Surinamese mother. She is the younger sister of
Katja Schuurman. Schuurman started her singing career several years before her graduation. Her first attempt to break into the music business was with some unsuccessful
R&B and
Dance projects. She also sang in the band Jeunes Turcs alongside her older sister Katja in 1995. After a short break in her musical career, she released some singles in 1999 which were more successful.
A Little Famous and
Maybe the Wine were minor hits and garnered her a certain degree of fame. Also, in the same year, she featured in the video
Onderweg by Abel and started to present a television program on
Fox Kids. Her final breakthrough followed in 2001 with her song "I Know", and the corresponding album
Few Like Me. Birgit combined her own dates, including being the supporting act for a
Roxy Music show in
Ahoy, with a
sponsored tour of
Lenny Kravitz-tribute-shows. She also appeared as a host on
TMF's The Music Factory and had a spread in the
Hitkrant. In the same period her record company organized a trip to New York for her and the band
Kensington to plant seeds for their musical career in the US market. Continuing in this direction, 2002 saw her recording a cover-version of the
Skunk Anansie-classic
Weak for the soundtrack of the movie
Liever verliefd; it did not chart. In September 2003 she signed to a new record label at
Purple Eye Entertainment, before releasing her single
Everybody Wants to Be; the video was shot on location in Miami. In July 2002 Birgit married film director
Kaja Wolffers. The marriage did not last and the couple divorced in April 2004. At the end of 2004 Birgit played the magician in the movie-adaptation of the 1969 children's series
Floris. Around the same time she performed in the
musical De Jantjes playing the role of Toffe Jans. Birgit went on to star in the
Lieve Lust series that debuted in August 2005 at the then-launched television station
Talpa; both proved to be short-lived. During this period Birgit released her
Sticky Tales-album which was originally scheduled for November 2004; a launch party was held at the Amsterdam Panama. Katja turned up with a few words of praise. "I'm proud of her; she's tough, witty and determined". In 2006 the sisters became each other's opponent in
Katja vs de Rest; Birgit, who feared lifelong embarrassment, emerged as the better half. She also starred in a self-sung coffee-commercial directed by
Arne Toonen, her husband to be who also appeared in front of the camera. On 29 June 2009 Birgit Schuurman and Arne Toonen became parents of a son, Chico. In 2007 Birgit released the USA- only
True Stories I Made Up.
2017-2018 12 years after her last album
True Stories I Made Up, Birgit was inspired again to write and record new songs. She secretly began work on a new album in 2016. Without any expectations she felt totally free to create. The initial single
Fuel my Fire, is the opening track of that album, was released on 27 September 2017. During the remainder of 2017, Birgit returned to the studio to record the rest of her songs, which appeared on her new album. Her co-writing team consists of Martijn Konijnenburg (
Kygo, NinaJune) Marcel Tegelaar (
Eefje de Visser), Stef Classens, Tom Tukker and many other songwriter and producers.
Stranded was the second single of the album, released in December of 2017. In the beginning of 2018 Birgit released the third single, the pop track
Amplify. The album
A Fool for Love was her most autobiographical record to date. It was released on March 28 in Amsterdam's
Melkweg venue. Meanwhile, Brigit continues to appear in a variety of television-programmes. In 2022, she appeared in
The Masked Singer. She plays a role in the 2024 film
De Break-Up Club. She appears in the 2026 season of the television show
De Verraders. ==Discography==