Rick van der Linden

Rick van der Linden (Badhoevedorp, August 5 1946 - Groningen, January 22 2006) was a Dutch composer and keyboard player. Van der Linden became famous as a member of Ekseption, but played in several other bands, as well as solo. His compositions were often inspired by classical music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.

He grew up in Haarlem, and started with learning to play piano when he was 13 years old. He performed with several symphony orchestras. He took his musical education at the music school in Den Haag and graduated with honour for piano, church organ, harmony and counterpoint. After his graduation he became music teacher at the Haarlem music school.

With Ekseption, Van der Linden toured through Europe, and was also successful with his other band Trace. As a soloist he released several albums, principally classical music. He worked with artists like Joachim Kuhn, Deep Purple, Phil Collins, Vangelis, Jack Lancaster and Brand X. In the band Mistral he cooperated with Robbie van Leeuwen (ex. Shocking Blue), and had hits in the Netherlands.

Rick van der Linden was struck by a CVA, and was partly paralysed as a result. He died on January 22. 2006 in Groningen, and was buried in Hoogeveen.