In the beginning he started out with rapper MC Fixx-it. The single was called “I can’t stand it”. This was a hip-hoptrack (100 BPM). The chorus was made by Ruud himself with a vocoder.Because it was just a little hit in the Dutch Tip-Parade Ruud decided to make the track more commercial. Hestarted working out a Hip-House version (124 BPM) which was totally different from the original. This time hechanged the chorus vocoder and used a female vocal. This was the first time Nance was introduced in the group.This Record went top 20 in Holland.After a few months there was interest by a record company in Germany.
They love the record but asked Ruud to re-record the record in Germany and use a different rapper. Ruud decided to do that.He started out with rapper Captain Hollywood and vocalist Nance joined by 2 dancers Jacks and Hanks.This re-recorded single became a smash hit all over Europe, claiming the number 1 spot in various countries. Thisled to worldwide success. The second single, “Are You Dreaming“, from the debut album “Street Moves”, appearedto be a good follow up in view of the chart positions it gained. After finishing the album “Streetmoves” CaptainHollywood decided to start his own career.Captain Hollywood eventually left the group.
His place was filled by Stay-C in 1992. Until 1995 he and Nanceformed Twenty 4 Seven.Their first single together was called “It Could Have Been You”, but unfortunately for them this single didn’t havethe impact as they hoped it would have!Twenty 4 Seven went back into the studios and recorded the single “Slave To The Music“. This single became anenormous success, claiming the number 1 spot in Australia, Czechia, most Latin-American countries and SouthAfrica, hitting Top 5 in Holland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Portugal and Top 10 in Finland,Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand.The next singles (Is it love, Take me away, Why don’t you leave them alone, Oh baby) and album, also entitled “SlaveTo The Music”, were just as successful and helped Twenty 4 Seven to become a worldwide top-act. In severalcountries all over the world Twenty 4 Seven received Golden and Platinum Awards for both singles and albums.
The third album, “I Wanna Show You”, was released in December, 1994, at times when the first single from thisalbum, “Oh Baby“, made it high in the charts in a big part of Europe. The second single “Keep On Trying” saw itsrelease in March, 1995. The same year in which Twenty 4 Seven proudly received the Dutch Export Award of 1994.In spring 1996 they received a Golden Award for the album “I Wanna Show You” (South Africa) and double Platinum for the album“Slave To The Music” (also in South Africa).The Twenty 4 Seven fans had to wait more than a year for a new single. In that year Nance was replaced by Stella.
During the summer of 1996 Twenty 4 Seven released a new single “We are the world” and a couple of months laterthe release of “If You Want My Love” was a fact. The release of this track was delayed a couple of times because“We Are The World” suddenly did very well in many countries. After “If you want my love” they released “Friday night” and the new fourth album “Twenty 4 hours 7 days a week”. The release of the single “Ne Ne” came a fewmonths later. It was recorded with Stay-C. Stella wasn’t part of the group anymore at that moment.After this release Ruud decided to stop for the moment.After a period of 11 years of silence Ruud decided to pick up the pieces and proceed with the group. In 2005 he met“Elle” and was impressed of her voice. After working a while in the studio, Ruud decided to record the new Twenty4 Seven single with her.
In September 2007 the recording of “Twenty 4 Seven – Like flames” was a fact. A greatvideo was shot, in which Ellen showed her talent as well as her beauty. The hectic life of showbusiness drove herback to her former job, away from the spotlights.Right after Elle left the group, Ruud bumped into this marvelously talented and beautiful young female singer Li-Ann. She was one of the winners of a very popular Talent TV show in Holland, in which she competed withthousands of other talented people. The winners of this contest formed the Girl group named RAFFISH. A group of5 cautiously selected beautiful and talented young girls.
After several hits the group split up and Li-Ann started hersolo career. She released 2 singles, Pop The Cherry and Friday, both accompanied by great video’s.When Ruud approached her to be the female singer of Twenty 4 Seven and told her about the upcoming plans andactivities of the group, she grabbed the chance to travel around the world and do concerts in all regions whereTwenty 4 Seven is still very popular.
All Ruud had to do now is get Stay-C back on the train, which wasn’t very hard after he heard about the plans andthe cooperation with a talent like Li-Ann.Ruud produced a new 2010 version of their classic Slave To The Music and the voices of Li-Ann and Stay-Cmatched perfectly in the studio.Slave To The Music 2010 will be released in November 2010 and the video of this track is already shot with one ofthe most sophisticated camera’s that is currently around.Ruud and Stay-C are working on the follow up single, which is planned for early 2011 and a brand new album thatwill follow shortly after.Stay-C and Li-Ann will be working 24/7 all around the world again. They started off in October in Latin America,where they had some very successful concerts, proving the everlasting popularity of Twenty 4 Seven.