Without any stage fright whatsoever, Jan Smit, as a member of the choir De Zangertjes van Volendam, takes to the stage at the age of ten in traditional Volendam costume to sing the duet Mama with BZN singer Carola Smit. Six months later, his name is in the Guinness Book of Records. After The Beatles and Procol Harum, Jan Smit is the first Dutchman and youngest artist ever to reach number one in the Top 40 with "Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen" (I sing this song for you alone).

The men of BZN (Jan Keizer, Jan Tuyp, and Jack Veerman) create several successful songs and, thanks to manager Jaap Buijs, gain a foothold in Germany with Jan. The potential of the Schlager music market is explored mainly because Jan is only allowed to perform a few times a year in his own country due to labor regulations.

There is no age limit for our eastern neighbors, and he wins one song contest after another and even, alongside Austrian Oswald Sattler, wins the most prestigious music award: the Grand Prix der Volksmusik, with "Ich zeig dir die Berge." As a teenager, the Volendam artist spends most of the year in Germany, which means that "der Lausbub" (the rascal) says goodbye to school life at a young age due to long tours abroad. In 2001, this earns him the Export Prize as the best-selling Dutch product abroad.

Since then, his successes in the Netherlands have been piling up, with six number one hits, more than 75 gold records, and six platinum albums. His concert tours through the largest venues in the Netherlands are invariably sold out. Jan Smit has been everywhere and stolen the show. He has now been in the business for 25 years and, after a short break, he is returning with the album and tour "Boven Jan."