Wrecking Ball by Lenny Monsou Joins the Dutch Artists on NPO Radio 2's 2026 TopSong List
A 22-Year-Old Dutch Artist Took a Pop-Rock Single From a Basement Studio to National Radio
Wrecking Ball became NPO Radio 2 TopSong number 584 on 21 August 2026, three weeks after its release on 31 July. Lenny Monsou, a 22-year-old independent artist from Amsterdam, Netherlands, made Wrecking Ball in a basement studio at the family home. Then the station’s listeners voted it to No. 1 on their own chart.
Lenny Monsou’s music sits in the playlist below, and the full coverage history is on the Lenny Monsou profile. Wrecking Ball came to this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Give it a listen, then read on.
That run is the story worth telling now. The Netherlands has a well-worn route for new acts, from talent schemes and showcase stages to national radio. Lenny Monsou took the pop-rock single along it from a basement. So this piece follows the route first, then where the artist fits, then the acts around the single.
The 2026 NPO Radio 2 TopSong List Puts Lenny Monsou’s Wrecking Ball Between Nothing but Thieves and Douwe Bob
But the route started well before this single. As a 3FM Talent, Lenny Monsou was nominated for Best Newcomer in 2024. The artist has also played the Noorderslag showcase in Groningen twice. Then the Popronde, the touring festival for new Dutch acts, booked eight dates in autumn 2025. Dutch Music Export also presented a show at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg.
Then came the radio step. Every week the station picks one TopSong, and the running count passed 580 this summer. The 2026 list also mixes international names with Dutch ones. Bruno Mars, U2 and Olivia Dean are on it. So are DI-RECT and Ilse DeLange in February, Jett Rebel in May and Bente in June.
Wrecking Ball landed in that company in late August. Nothing but Thieves held the slot the week before with Baby Kool (Evelyn). Douwe Bob took it next with Note to Self on 4 September. For an independent single made in a basement, that is a busy neighbourhood.
Between the Piano and the Rock Stage, Wrecking Ball Was Made at Home in a Basement Studio
So where does the artist fit? Lenny Monsou describes a live show that swings between two ends. One end is a full room held alone at the piano. The other is all-out rock energy on stage. The heroes Monsou names explain that range, from Frank Sinatra and T. Rex to Radiohead and The 1975. Festival bookers hear rock built on electropop production with a streak of glam, and a voice that fills the room.
The single was built the same way, mostly at home. Lenny Monsou wrote Wrecking Ball with Rhys Frank, Gabriel Pettersson and Beatrice Jaksch, and produced it with DianDian as co-producer. Lenny Monsou also recorded the track, sang lead and backing vocals and played guitars, bass, piano, Rhodes and synthesiser.
The rest of the credits also keep it close. Daniel Monsou played the drums and Jean Monsou added percussion. Tim Palmer, a producer and mixer whose work includes U2 and Pearl Jam, mixed the track with Travis Kennedy. Justin Shturtz mastered it. At three minutes and 37 seconds, it is a radio-length pop-rock record with a bright, polished finish.
The Rolling Stones, The 1975 and Douwe Bob Are the Neighbours Around Lenny Monsou’s Wrecking Ball
Those heroes point to the first neighbour. Monsou describes the rock end of the live show in Mick Jagger terms. The Rolling Stones were a TopSong themselves this year, with In the Stars on 8 May. The same weekly slot now holds a band that started in 1962 and an artist who started in a basement.
The 1975 are also one of the bands Monsou names. The Manchester band took I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It to No. 1 in the UK and the US in 2016. That album moves between big pop-rock hooks and quieter keyboard pieces. Wrecking Ball takes the pop-rock side.
Then there is Douwe Bob, the Dutch neighbour. The singer-songwriter represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with Slow Down. Two weeks after Wrecking Ball, Douwe Bob was TopSong too. Both write in English for a Dutch station that gives them the same weekly spotlight as the headliners.
Listeners Took the Single to No. 1 on the Verrukkelijke 15 After Its TopSong Week
The TopSong week put the single on air, but the listeners decided what happened next. The Verrukkelijke 15 is the Sunday chart that the station’s listeners vote on, built from the station’s own tips. So its No. 1 comes from the audience rather than a playlist editor. Wrecking Ball reached it at the end of August.
From the PopHits.News curator team: “We added Wrecking Ball to our rock-pop playlist as its most radio-ready track. The single had already proved itself on Dutch national radio.”
Start with Wrecking Ball, and remember where it began. That was a basement in the Netherlands, long before NPO Radio 2 made it TopSong number 584.
Stream Wrecking Ball on Spotify. Follow Lenny Monsou on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for the next single.
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