Death of Bert Ruiter

We were sorry to hear of the death of former Focus bassist Bert Ruiter on March 24 in Blaricum, Holland. Bert was bassist in the heydays of Focus from the time of Focus 3. He went on to have hits with Earth and Fire in Holland, including a number one. Born in Hilversum in 1946, he was 75. He leaves behind his partner of nearly fifty years, Jerney Kaagman.

The message from the present band Focus was 'We will miss you Bert. Thanks for all your music. We wish Jerney a lot of strength with this loss.'

This is the second death of a bassist with Focus as the first one, Martijn Dresden, is no longer with us. First drummer, Hans Cleuver, has also died.