Biography

His debut single De werkmens (The laborer) was released in a production by Al Van Dam. De werkmens became a hit within three weeks and was in the Flemish BRT Top 10 for 17 weeks. In the song, Heylen sings about the hard, robust life of the working man. The line "A zet a hier" (He stands here!) became very well-known. A video clip showed him working in a garden, while singing the song.

In 1979 he became a journalist for the magazine Panorama-De Post (later P-Magazine) and made more than seven hundred in-depth interviews (one per week, 15 years without interruption). He also became a columnist for the monthly magazine Playboy and wrote cover stories as a freelancer for various large Flemish weeklies, such as Humo and Dag Allemaal.

In 1989 Heylen published the book Het Geslacht Planckaert, about the Planckaert family of cyclists. Together with Eddy Planckaert he published several new songs that same year, including We Got to Win and Hé Schoon Wijveken.

In 1972 Ivan Heylen won the cabaret competition of the grape village Hoeilaart and besides five kilos of grapes he also got an audition on the radio. Immediately afterwards he was offered a contract with record company Decca, encouraged by BRT producer and cabaret expert Jan Geysen among others.

Heylen's style was characterised by a raw East Flemish dialect and a simple, spicy musical accompaniment.