Herman Brood - Suicide and Legacy

Suicide and Legacy

Toward the end of his life, Brood vowed to abstain from most drugs, reducing his drug use to alcohol and a daily shot of speed ("2 grams per day"). In 2001, depressed by the failure of his drug rehabilitation program and facing serious medical problems because of his prolonged drug use, he committed suicide on 11 July by jumping from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel at the age of 54. Extensively covered by the national media, his cremation took place five days later. Before the cremation, Brood's casket was driven from the Hilton hotel to Paradiso, Amsterdam, the streets lined with thousands of spectators. A commemorative concert was held in Paradiso, with performances by Hans Dulfer, André Hazes, and Jules Deelder, and leading Dutch music magazine Muziekkrant OOR devoted an entire issue to him. His ashes were placed at Zorgvlied cemetery.

Soon after his suicide, Brood's version of "My Way" spent three weeks as number one in the Dutch singles charts; the market value of his art work also increased greatly. A characteristic note is that Brood's paintings were already targeted often by vandals during his life, while after his death they were stolen for their value. His popularity (or notoriety) was verified by the fact that his name turned out to be the strongest brand of the year.

When U2 performed in the Netherlands three weeks after Brood's suicide, they paid tribute to him at each of the three shows. They dedicated an acoustic version of Duke Ellington's "Jump for Joy" to him, a song they never performed at any other time of their career. At the third show in Arnhem they also dedicated their own "Gone" to him and had his version of "My Way" played over the PA as outro music. In the middle of the show Bono delivered an emotional eulogy to Brood before the band performed "In a Little While".

On 5 November 2006 the Groninger Museum opened an exposition devoted to Herman Brood's life and work, comprising paintings, lyrics, and poetry, portraits by photographer Anton Corbijn, a collection of private pictures (from the family album), and concert photos and videos. The exhibition was on show until 28 January. It was centered on Herman's atelier (studio) where he created most of his paintings. The atelier had been entirely re-built in the museum. During the 90s, Herman Brood's studio was located on the second floor of the gallery in the Spuistraat in Amsterdam and has remained untouched since his death.

In 2007 the film Wild Romance premiered in the Netherlands, a movie about Brood's life. Brood was portrayed by Daniël Boissevain. He continues to inspire other artists: the 2007 album Bluefinger by Black Francis is based on the life and works of Brood. A tribute band called the Brood Roosters ("bread toasters") was active in the Netherlands until they split up in early 2009. Another tribute band called Yada Yada is still active in The Netherlands, often appearing with original members of the Wild Romance (Dany Lademacher, Ramon Rambeaux) .

In 2010, the Catastrophic Theatre Company collaborated with Frank Black on a rock opera based on the Bluefinger album. The opera's first performance, with Matt Kelly portraying Brood, was 12 November 2010 in Houston, Texas.