Ozark Henry

Idiosyncratic Belgian pop composer Ozark Henry achieved his mainstream breakthrough via the 2001 release Birthmarks. Piet Goddaer, born April 29, 1970, in Kortrijk, grew up as the son of classical and jazz composer Norbert Goddaer and first took up saxophone and piano at the age of six. An electric guitar received on his sixteenth birthday prompted him and his brother Jan to launch the rock outfit Church of the Nemesis, which later operated under the name Heather O'Rourke—chosen in tribute to the ill-fated child actress from the horror film Poltergeist—after Goddaer assumed vocal responsibilities as well.

In 1994 he secured an underground hit with “Herny Man-She,” credited to Jan’s new group Word, at the same moment Goddaer was developing his initial solo effort under the Botho moniker. A string of musical-theater endeavors preceded his adoption of the Ozark Henry alias in 1995. The David Bowie-inspired album I’m Seeking Something That Has Already Found Me earned critical praise upon its 1996 appearance yet met with limited commercial interest, whereas the 1998 successor This Last Warm Solitude—recorded alongside cellist Audrey Riley—performed strongly in stores and brought Goddaer a Zamu Music Award for best songwriter.

Following a collaboration with saxophonist Frank De Ruytter and drummer Stéphane Galland in the side project Sunzoo Manley, he resumed the Ozark Henry identity for his Sony label debut Birthmarks, which attained platinum status thanks to the hit singles “Rescue” and “Sweet Instigator.” Defying expectations once more, Goddaer joined forces with K’s Choice’s Sarah Bettens, Hooverphonic’s Geike Arnaert, and Arid’s Jasper Steverlinck to create the soundtrack for the Belgian television series Sedes and Belli. The fourth Ozark Henry album, The Sailor Not the Sea, appeared in 2004; two years afterward he returned with The Soft Machine, which swiftly entered the Belgian Top Ten and delivered his first number-one hit while also topping the charts.