On the death of Arno

Rock singer Arno Hintjens has inspired the music world beyond his native Belgium with his raspy voice. On April 23, he died of cancer at the age of 72.

Belgian rock singer Arno felt in his element on stage.

Jean Christophe Bott / KEYSTONE

Belgium has around eleven and a half million inhabitants and a thriving music scene that can often benefit from the francophone metropolitan area. Arnold Charles Ernest Hintjens, known as Arno tout simple, was a prominent representative of the multilingual state. The “Belgian Tom Waits” not only sang in French, but also in Flemish and English.

And he tirelessly gave concerts, almost to the end. In mid-February he appeared side by side with the fixed star Stromae, who was 35 years his junior, in Brussels’ “Ancienne Belgique”, where the two offered their compatriots a thrilling performance. Anyway: What does a 35-year age difference mean between stars?

First with a band, later solo

Born in 1949 in Ostend, a port city and seaside resort with age patina, Arno initially only ventured onto the stage as a member of a band. The breakthrough came with the third, TC Matic, in the early 1980s. In the middle of the decade he then launched his solo career.

Did meeting Marvin Gaye in 1981 motivate him to put everything into his music? Or did meeting the Motown superstar put him off at first? Arno served Marvin Gaye not as a musician but as a chef when he was a shadow of himself. After he had sought refuge in Ostend, the soul singer managed to conquer the international charts one last time with “Sexual Healing”.

Arno’s most well-known title, «Putain Putain» (1983), which mixes French, English and Flemish, is not from soul but from post-punk. “Je ne suis pas un nationaliste” are the first words of the song. And in the chorus he sang: “Nous sommes quand meme tous des Européens”. At that time, there was hardly any potential for conflict. In contrast to lines in which he confessed that he loved “les femmes” as well as “les garçons”, in order to then also talk about his physical endowment.

The delicate passage seemed masked by the language of the Flemish minority. Nevertheless, he was repeatedly compared to a French singer who previously seemed to have the sole right to formulate it explicitly: Serge Gainsbourg. Arno’s “Putain Putain” wrote rock history and was recorded in a new version for Arno’s solo album “Vivre” last year. And performed live in an acclaimed duet with Stromae.

In his homeland, the Arno was admired just as much as the chansonnier Jacques Brel or Salvatore Adamo before him or Stromae today. The intimate homage to his mother, «Les yeux de ma mère» (1995), also made a significant contribution to this. He also won the hearts of his fans with a bouquet of surprising covers – from “Knowing Me, Knowing You” by Abba to “Mother’s Little Helper” by the Rolling Stones to “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

Impressive duos

In addition to the cover versions, duets were a conspicuous specialty. In 2002, for example, he caused a stir with an effectively contrasting recording of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Elisa”, together with Gainsbourg’s muse Jane Birkin. And with the Italo-Belgian Adamo, Arno sang «Les filles du bord de mer».

In 2019, Arno was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Belgian singer with the characteristic whiskey voice succumbed to this suffering on Saturday at the age of 72.

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