Will Tura

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Will Tura was born as Arthur Blanckaert on August 2, 1940, in Veurne. He is the fourth in a family of five children: Hubert, Staf, Jacqueline and Jean-Marie. He was only nine when Walter Richard booked him for a performance in the 'Cinema Eldorado'.
In 1957 he signs a recording contract with the largest Belgian publisher of the moment, Jacques Kluger, and on August 2, 1958 he performs solo for the first time, under the name WILL TURA. Beginning of the years 60 Jean Kluger, son of Jacques (who is seriously ill), takes over as producer. Will and Jean would work together for more than fifty years and make almost 700 recordings.
1962: Will scores his first hit with Lonely Without You. Every single Tura releases from then on, which is two to three per year, will be number one. Tura composes many of his songs himself, and Nelly Byl will write almost all his lyrics, including more than a hundred hits.
March 22, 1973: Will marries Jenny.
On March 31, 1974 Tura, the first Belgian and Flemish artist, fills the rock temple of Vorst Nationaal. On October 16, that same year, son David was born.
In 1975, November 21, his daughter Sandy is born.
Late '88 Will has a car accident that will leave him with a shattered kneecap but also the mega hit “Beautiful, life is beautiful”. The doctors predict that he will never be able to jog again: today Will still runs several kilometers every day.
End of 1989 Tura is received in a private audience by King Baudouin, but he also loses his younger brother Jean-Marie.
In 1990 Will is extensively celebrated for his fiftieth birthday by all media and by the cream of the Flemish variety and pop artists with the tribute records 16 for Tura and Turalura,
Rockers sing Tura.
1993: during the funeral ceremony of HM King Baudouin on August 7, Will moves all Belgians with his rendition of I miss you so much and Hope gives life.
Summer 1994: Sky Blue will be at Number 1 for 13 weeks.
Early '95: appointment as cultural ambassador of Flanders, but that year will always be marked by the loss of his mother.
June 3, 1998: death of his brother Staf, who guided and assisted him from the beginning of his career as a manager of his performances and as a sound technician.
1999: first Gospel and Christmas tour in December in the Flemish churches.
On January 9, 2001 Will receives a very prestigious award from the hands of Prime Minister Patrick Dewael: Officer in the Order of the Crown, but it doesn't stop there because from July 2001 Arthur Blanckaert has belonged to the nobility: from now on he can call himself a Knight. He performs again at Vorst Nationaal, in 2007 for the fifth episode of Tura in Symfonie. To celebrate his 70th birthday, his colleagues recorded the album Turalura 2, and the collector Tura 70 is good for gold. In 2012 the studio album 'I am a singer' was released, in 2014 he was number 1 in the Ultratop with the Back to Back Will Tura-Christoff album.
In 2015 Will turns 75 and celebrates this in Veurne with a grand birthday concert that is broadcast by VRT. Together with Steve Willaert, he writes the music for the musical 40-45, releases a provisional final studio album, and can be seen in Flemish cinemas in the documentary by Dominique Deruddere, produced by Jean Kluger: Will Tura Hoop makes life. The Tura 80 collection box, upon release, debuted at number 1 on the Ultratop album list. Wikipedia writes about this: After Leonard Cohen, Tura is the oldest artist ever to top this list.
Will's last concert will take place in the Kursaal of Ostend in November 2021 where he will, as always, give the best of himself.
In 2022 Gert Verhulst decides to honor Will Tura with the Studio 100 musical 'Vergeet Barbara' with Will's best-known hits. It will be a great success and Will is grateful for this recognition.
To this day, Will is busy doing what he loves most: playing music.