Dutch country and folk musician Hannah Mae Schoonbeek was born in Emmen on November 16, 1998. She had been learning guitar and composing her first songs since the age of sixteen, when in 2019 she scored her first hit with the track "Back to You", chosen for a commercial. Signed to Spark Records, Hannah Mae signed her first song in Dutch, "De Kerkstraat", in 2022, followed by the hit "Wat wil je van mij", a duet with Belgian singer Metejoor that reached No. 2 in the Netherlands and Flemish Belgium. Subsequent singles performed in her native idiom include "Waterdicht" (#9 in 2023), the duet "Ik wil dat je liegt" with Maksim in 2024 (#8 in the Netherlands and #1 in Flemish Belgium), which won the Radio 2 Summer Song Award in Belgium, and "Rode draad " (#37), prior to her participation in the 17th season of Beste Zangers.
