Rock icon Arno passed away on Saturday at the age of 72. To honor his legacy, BRUZZ collected your best memories of le plus beau .
Son
“Even before I knew whether fatherhood was for me, I knew that, if it was a boy, his name would be Arno. And that’s how it happened in 1999. A while later I received a telephone call at a radio program where Arno was the main guest. I told him that story. Le plus beau ‘s witty response : ‘it’s a four letter word.'”
Werner Schrooyen, 59, Ganshoren
‘So clean’
“Arno was just like all of us. Somewhere in the mid 90’s I was out with a friend, in the Archiduc. There we met Arno, who said: ‘Sometimes you can do a lot with little, look at me.’
He was humble and amiable and didn’t put any energy into himself, that energy went to the music and the stage.
As a teenager in the 80s, TC Matic gave us our face. That unadulterated guts felt stronger and more authentic than what came from elsewhere. It was exciting and we had the time of our lives. Songs like ‘Dans les yeux de ma mère’ and ‘Elle adore le noir’ are world heritage. A heartfelt, big thank you. Keep singing, you did it so beautifully.”
Nathalie Jacobs, 52
Petra Brinkhof
Advertising car
“Fan from the very beginning. In the 1980s I advertised for a year before and after a concert in Vossem, near Tervuren. This photo was taken in Overijse, when our first car was ready for its retirement. Countless concerts, meetings on café and on stages and with Martine in the Daringman will remain in our hearts forever.”
Intense enjoyment
“As a young Brussels resident, you met Arno when going out. Inevitably. You saw him in the Archiduc, often in the company of Jan Decorte, you met him on the Muntplein, at a reception in the Ancienne Belgique, on the Rogierplein , on the Graanmarkt. But you did not speak to him. You did not dare to speak to him, because although you admired him, but also respected him, you wanted to give him his privacy. By the way, he paid no attention to you, but to the girl who was just decorating.
You bought his records, of course, later his CDs. You knew where he lived in Dansaertstraat (four high in the clouds), because his name was on the bell. But you didn’t ring the bell. It was enough to enjoy watching him at work. Countless times. True? When? No, I don’t remember. Enjoying intensely every time, that has stayed with me.
I am an old young father. I’m 64, my son is 20. His name is Arno. When I heard the news of Arno’s death via the VRT last night, I went to his room. “Arno is dead.” “Uh, okay.” And so Arno will always be with me a bit.”
Eddy Van Nieuwenhuyzen, 64, Brussels
Family
“In 1991-1992 I worked in the evenings in the film museum in Brussels, also on Christmas Eve. The film museum was open on Christmas Eve, so that loyal visitors who had no family could come anyway. Fewer films were programmed and it was usually very quiet, because of few visitors.
Then I saw in the newspaper that late that evening there was a concert by Charles et les Lulus in the Ancienne Belgique. I went there on my own after work.
When Arno appeared, he jokingly welcomed his audience in Ostend: ‘Beautiful family!’ It was an incredibly beautiful concert, one of the most beautiful Christmas evenings I can remember.”
Griet Steyaert
Wine
“15 years ago, I worked as a stewardess / usher for the Flagey cultural centre. Arno had come to see a concert. During the intermission, Arno and his friends had a drink. And at the end of the intermission, I I had to tell Arno that he couldn’t enter the theatre with his glass of wine (security instruction requires)…
When my back was turned, Arno, like a kid, started running laughing to enter the room with his drink. It was his rock ‘n roll side.
At the end of the concert, I did my checkup of the room. The glass was not broken. Thank you Arno :-)”
