Freek Rikkerink, known from the music duo Suzan & Freek, has metastatic lung cancer. The couple announces that a cure is no longer possible and that they are ceasing all work. The illness of the 32-year-old Rikkerink is especially hard because the duo is expecting their first child later this year.
“Our world has been completely turned upside down,” Suzan & Freek wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “Due to the metastases, there is no longer any chance of a cure. We are completely devastated. It feels so unfair.”
At the same time, the duo announces that they will welcome their first child at the end of this year. “We are going to enjoy the time we have together for as long as possible, even though we don’t know how long that will be.”
The news means that the couple will no longer perform and will immediately cease all work. Suzan & Freek ask for peace and privacy for themselves, their family and friends.
The duo was working on a concert series in the Ziggo Dome. They performed there last weekend. They were supposed to fill the Amsterdam concert hall three more times this weekend, but those shows will not go ahead.
Suzan & Freek broke through in 2019 with the hit single Als Het Avond Is (If It Is Evening). Since then, they have scored major hits with songs such as Blauwe Dag (Blue Day), De Overkant (The Other Side) and Slapeloosheid (Sleeplessness). Earlier this month, the new single Batterij (Battery) was released. In 2022, they won the Edison for best album with Dromen In Kleur (Dreams In Color).
Rikkerink and Stortelder have been together for eighteen years. They got married at the end of 2023.
