Formed in 1981 by brothers Huub and Hans van der Lubbe, Nico Arzbach and Bert Stelder, De Dijk caught the wave of Dutch rock music, which they've ridden ever since. Most rock bands in the area performed in English, making De Dijk with their Dutch lyrics something of an anomaly in the market at the time. The band's 1982 debut record, De Dijk, was an enormous success. Drummer Antonie Broek, who became De Dijk's main producer, and keyboard player Pim Kops joined the band in 1983. With the LP Niemand in de stad (1989), De Dijk established its name by selling 100,000 copies. Their live CD went platinum. De Dijk toured and recorded regularly throughout the late '80s and '90s, becoming one of the most important rock bands in Dutch history. Their poetic lyrics, penned by Huub van der Lubbe, influenced an entire generation of Dutch musicians. JB Meijers joined De Dijk in 2000 as guitarist and co-producer. In 2005, De Dijk was awarded the Edison Oeuvre Award. In 2006 the band played a show honoring its 25th anniversary at the Rotterdam Ahoy Theatre, kicking off an extensive tour. In 2010, the album Hold On Tight was released, in collaboration with Solomon Burke. In honor of their fortieth anniversary in 2021, they received the Andreaspenning from the city of Amsterdam..