Balthazar

Belgian teenagers Maarten Devoldere, Patricia Vanneste, and Jinte Deprez formed the indie-pop band Balthazar in 2004. Based in Kortrijk, the trio won the country-wide Kunstbende talent competition in 2005 and grew into a five-piece band with the subsequent additions of bassist Joachim Quartier and drummer Koen Verfaillie. The group's self-titled debut EP was released in 2006. Simon Casier and Christophe Claeys replaced Balthazar's original rhythm section in 2007, and the band scored a Number 4 hit on Belgium's Ultratop chart that same year with "This Is a Flirt." Three years later, the debut album Applause peaked at Number 13 in Balthazar's homeland. Its follow-up, Rats, climbed to Number 1 in 2012. Balthazar maintained a frequent presence on the Ultratop chart with Top 10 hits like "The Oldest of Sisters" and "Do Not Claim Them Anymore," then reached a new peak with "Then What," which charted at Number 2 in 2015. "Then What" appeared on the band's third record, Walls, which was released later that year and featured the follow-up hits "Bunker" and "Nightclub." Following the departure of co-founder Patricia Vanneste in 2018, Balthazar released another Number 1 album, Fever, whose popularity was boosted by the Top 10 singles with "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down Again," "Wrong Vibration," and "Changes." Sand, the band's fifth full-length album, was released in 2021.

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