Yellow Pearl (band)

Yellow Pearl is a Dutch band that started in 2002 and has had several hits. This pop/rock band consists of Emiel Pijnaker (vocals/drums), Viktor Beekman (guitar), Robert E. James (keyboards), Sander Keuls, (bass guitar).

In 2006, Yellow Pearl recorded the album The Rebel in You with producer Stephen van Haestregt, drummer of the band Within Temptation, during which time their original lead guitarist, Myrddin Hoogenraad left the band temporary. Several guitar players have replace him during this time. Amongst them are Kevin Hunter, Pablo Minoli (of Venezuelan metal band Laberinto) and one of Holland's most talented guitar players Mark Beumers.

The band's biggest hits were "For you and Me" (recorded and produced by Han Nuijten ) and "See You Again". "For you and Me" was an instant radio hit and was put on rotation on several playlists including 3FM. The song was featured on the CD Hitzone 27 which received the golden status in November 2004. "See you Again" was a top 10 hit in the Single Top 100. The band is one of the few acts that has performed twice in a sold out Paradiso (Amsterdam) (Dutch rock temple) within a 6 months period. First they opened for Thin Lizzy in spring 2006 and in November 2006 they had their debut album release concert in Paradiso. The band also performed on the television show Top of the Pops with the song "See you Again" in 2006. In 2006 they also played on Zwarte Cross, one of the biggest Dutch music festivals. They hold the all-time record for most live performances on 3FM, the alternative radio station in the Netherlands, with over 25 appearances in 4 years in 9 different shows. The first was in 2004 when DJ Rob Stenders invited them on to his morning show with their single "For you and Me".

They also played during Serious Request, editions 2006 and 2007. Their song "For you and Me" was included on the compilation CD of Arbeidsvitaminen (Work vitamins), a show by DJ Gerard Ekdom, a popular-music radio show of 3FM, which received a Guinness Book of World Records award for being the longest-lived nationally broadcast radio show in history^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, the band's singer, Emiel Pijnaker, wrote music for several movie projects.

During every "Serious Request" Yellow Pearl has been helping 3FM to raise money and awareness to help the Red Cross.

In June 2016 it was announced that Emiel Pijnaker has been working on new music with Alex Al (bass player Michael Jackson) and Pete Merriweather (drummer En Vogue).

In June 2017 the band came out with the summer single "Temptation". It right away became the 5 star track of DJ Gerard Ekdom of Radio 2. From early July until late August 2017, "Temptation" was also featured under the summerpromo for the best watched Dutch television station NPO1 TV, around 6 times per day. During Radio 3FM Red Cross Serious Request in December 2017 Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, Yellow Pearl did over 15 shows and released the single "Looking for a home". In January 2018 Yellow Pearl played three shows during Eurosonic/Noorderslag and released the single "You" (airplay on Dutch radio stations Radio 1, Radio 5 and Omroep Gelderland). On September 4, 2020 the single "Without Your Love" was released with promotion and airplay in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The song also reached spot 24 on the Radio Gelderland top 100 2020 list. A list of the best songs out of the Dutch provence of Gelderland of all time. In the spring of 2021 the single "Stay" was released and it enjoyed airplay on major radio stations in Holland and Belgium. The singer of the band Emiel Pijnaker signed a publishing deal with Bosworth Music /Wise Music in June 2021.

External links[]

• Hitzone 27
• Article June 2016 Alex Al and Pete Merriweather