René Wingelaar was a Dutch singer/songwriter, a schoolteacher, father of two children and a family man. He lived from 14th August, 1975 until his very sad and untimely passing on 3rd October, 2012.

This website, honouring the life and music of René Wingelaar, was developed with much love and care, between 2016 and 2017.
It gives you information mostly about René's music and his musical career. There's a biography, as well as a list of all the CDs that René produced and the DVDs that were released after his unfortunate passing. You will also find information about the members of his band, and there are two photo albums included. You can listen to the first two tape cassettes René produced when he was a teenager (found in the 'Extras' chapter), and there's an online shop where you can order any of the CDs or DVDs. If you would like to contact René's family, or one of the webmasters (Michiel ten Brug or Veronica Watson) you can do that via the 'Contact' page, or you can leave a message in the guestbook. There is also a Facebook page you can visit, entitled 'Dreamer Number One', for devotées of René and his music.

None of the work involved with this site would have been at all possible without the invaluable and much appreciated contribution made by René's parents, Truus and Arie Wingelaar and René's brother, Robert. Some parts of the website were taken from René's original site, which was developed by Iwan in 't Groen. We are also indebted to Pleuni Jacobs for lending us so much information that made this project possible. Last but not least we would like to offer our gratitude to all others who contributed to this site directly or indirectly. We cannot thank you enough.

Exploring the site

The site was designed to browse through it page by page - and in order to do that, you simply click on the 'previous' and 'next' buttons at the top of each page (click here to show them).

However, if you wish to go to any particular page immediately, you will find chapter headings (menu titles) at the top of each page. Selecting a chosen chapter will open a menu displaying all the pages for that chapter. The desired page can then be opened by clicking on it (click here to show the chapters).you need to click on René's name at the top. The home page will appear and from there you can choose the desired chapter and page (click here to show).

Each page is divided into two parts, one with text or detailed information on the right, and the other with photos, plus usually some videoclips, that go with the information on the left.Besides text or detailed information, most pages have photos, plus usually some videoclips, that go with the information.
Where there is more than one photo or videoclip on a page, you will find thumbnails which can be selected in order to view fully (click here to show them).

Media files and lyrics
Unfortunately, it is not permitted to present audio files and lyrics of covers on this website.
However, the lyrics to all of René's songs have been included - and the lyrics of songs that were written by Thomas Manetti and Jan Boezen (René's bandmembers) can also be found.
In some cases, René's thoughts about a particular song have been included beneath the lyrics.
Also, the lyrics page for some songs displays a background image appropriate to the song. In case this picture makes it difficult to read the lyrics, a button is available to hide the image.
The lyrics are shown in so-called popup screens - to be able to view them, you must setup your browser not to block popups from this site. Please contact us if you have questions about this.
In general, lyrics are presented in a font that's fairly easy to read. As a result, the text for some songs is too large to fit the screen. In those cases you can either scroll the text, or tap twice on the screen of your mobile screen so that all text is displayed.
In addition, you will find audio files for many of René's songs (some partial), and some videoclips. Most of the videoclips are concert renditions of the songs, and some of the clips include photos that go with the song. These clips are indicated by a thumbnail depicting a photo not taken at a concert.

René singing at the christening of an adopted boy - at the Catharinakerk in Barneveld, November 2011



Photos for this chapter


René singing at the christening of an adopted boy in Barneveld, November, 2011 René with the 'Nickels and Dimes' band in the UK, 28th April 2007 René at the LEF festival in De Glind, Netherlands, 2007
At the CatharinakerkWith the 'Nickels and Dimes' bandAt the LEF festival

Music for this chapter


René Wingelaar Medley