Pierre Kartner, better known by his stage name Vader Abraham, was born on April 11, 1935 in Elst, the Netherlands. He is a pop singer, composer, lyricist and producer and shapes the pop song genre. He died on November 8, 2022 in Breda, Netherlands. As a solo artist, he performs under the name Vader Abraham - the stage character becomes iconic with his bowler hat, bow tie and beard. He achieved his first success as a composer. In 1971, he published the carnival hit "Vader Abraham hat sieben Söhne" (Vader Abraham has seven sons), which earned him his stage name. His next big success followed in 1975 with the ballad "Die kleine Kneipe" (original: Het kleine café aan de haven), which was covered in over 200 versions, in German by Peter Alexander. In 1977, he achieved worldwide fame with the "Song of the Smurfs" (original: 't Smurfenlied). The song sells over 25 million copies. This was followed by studio albums such as Bedankt Vader Abraham (1979), Die glücklichen Jahre (1979), Vader Abraham und die Wuppies (1981), Ring, Ring (1982), Vader Abraham & seine Funny Puppies (1985) and Schlumpfenland Wunderland (1990). Later, he mainly writes for other artists such as Ireen Sheer, Nana Mouskouri, Heino, Elfi Graf and Peter Orloff. In 2010, he composed the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)". In the last years of his life, Kartner lived in seclusion in Breda and rarely performed in public. He died on November 8, 2022. His awards included a large number of gold records - he received over 128 gold records as a composer during his career, as well as numerous awards for his Schlumpf works. He has also received a Buma Lifetime Achievement Award, an Edison and a Golden Harp, among others. In 2000, he received a royal honor.
