Esmee Denters

Esmee Denters was born in Arnhem, the Netherlands in 1988. She has an older sister, who is a well-known singer and actress in Holland. The older sister had a big influence on Esmee. She helped her become interested in singing. Denters loved listening to her father’s discs. In 2003, the family moved to the Arnhem suburbs. While in high school, the aspiring artist was practicing her vocal skills. Then she enrolled at HAN University.

In the summer of 2006, Denters created her own YouTube channel, where she uploaded her covers of famous singles by other artists. She recorded them at home, using simple equipment. Denters wanted to find out if her vocal talent was of any interest to the public. She was noticed almost immediately. In just two months, her videos collected over 40 million views.

Such a quick success attracted the attention of different producers. Esmee was getting offers from different labels, which she didn’t take seriously at first. Finally, in February 2007, the artist decided to visit the USA and meet her potential partners. In the US, she met Sean Combs, Kelly Rowland, and Justin Timberlake. Then she went to Sweden to work with other professional musicians. At the same time, Esmee made a decision to quit school to devote herself fully to the music career.

In March 2008, Denters came back to the United States to work with Justin Timberlake. In May, the singer presented a music video, in which she sings one of Justin’s songs. The media talked about a romantic relationship between the two. However, the rumors never got any confirmation. Most likely, they were unfounded.

In June 2007, Esmee signed a contract with Justin’s label Tennman Records. The same month she accompanied Timberlake on his concerts in Amsterdam and Antwerp. In July, the singer presented another music video, which she recorded with a famous British singer Natasha Bedingfield.

In August, the label funded a documentary, in which Esmee talked about her way to fame and how posting videos on YouTube helped her. The same summer, she began working on the first album. In November, Denters was invited to Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. During the show, the singer announced a new single “Crazy Place”, which was dedicated to poverty in third world countries. The proceeds from the song’s sale went to charity.

All of 2008 Esmee worked on her new album. In November, she presented a new single “Follow My Lead”, which they recorded together with Timberlake. She also performed the song on YouTube Live. Many fans were hoping to book Esmee Denters for private events.

In April 2009, the singer recorded a new single “Outta Here”, which managed to climb to the third spots of Belgian and Dutch charts. It also came in 9th on the UK Singles Chart. In May, Esmee finally presented her debut LP, Outta Here, which settled on the 5th position of Dutch Album Top 100 and came in 48th on the UK Albums Chart. In September, one of the tracks “Admit It” was released as a separate single, which climbed to the 28th spot of Dutch Top 40.

In the fall, Esmee supported rock group Honor Society on its concerts in Canada and the USA. She used the opportunity to promote her first album. Then she performed with the hip-hop band NDubz in the UK.

At the end of 2009, together with a British rapper Chipmunk, the artist recorded a single “Until You Were Gone", which came in 3rd on the British charts. Esmee continued working with Timberlake as well. In May 2010, the singer released a hit single “Love Dealer”, which climbed to the 9th spot of US Hot Dance Club Songs. At the end of the year, Denters earned a title of the best singer in the Netherlands.

In 2011, Esmee moved to London to work on her second LP. However, Tennman Records had a change of plans and decided not to support the album. As a result, the singer dropped the contract. Slowly, her music career started going downward. However, Denters didn’t give up and continued promoting her own songs.

In January 2015, Esmee participated in the talent show The Voice UK but didn’t make it to the finals. In 2017, together with Shaun Reynolds, Denters released an EP, These Days. The second part These Days II came out in 2018.

Esmee continues recording new songs and performing live.