Udo Jürgens

Udo Jürgens was born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann in Klagenfurt, Austria, on September 13, 1934, and died in Münsterlingen, Switzerland, in 2014. With hits such as "Griechischer Wein", "Ich war noch niemals in New York" and "Merci, Chérie", more than 50 album releases and over 105 million records sold, he is considered one of the most important singers and composers in the world. His songs move stylistically between pop and pop, are strongly inspired by French chanson and often deal with melancholy everyday stories. Udo Jürgens initially taught himself to play the piano, but then studied music at the Kärtner Landeskonservatorium in Klagenfurt and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He made his first appearance as a jazz singer in a café while still a student, but he came to public attention in 1964 when he entered the Grand Prix Eurovision for Austria and came sixth with the song "Warum nur, warum?" His third participation in the competition brought him first place in 1966, and the song "Merci, Chérie" became a worldwide hit. This was followed by extensive tours and further commercially successful releases such as "Greek Wine" (1974) and "Buenos días, Argentina" (1978), for which he received a gold record and shortly afterwards a platinum record. In the 1980s, Udo Jürgens went quiet and it was only when the musical Ich war noch niemals in New York, based on his songs and compositions, premiered in 2007 that he returned to the public eye. His albums reached chart positions again. mitten im Leben, his last album released during his lifetime, was released in 2014. In the 60 years of his musical career, many of his compositions were also recorded by other major artists such as Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, and Bing Crosby and his musical legacy still has worldwide appeal. As of 2015, he holds the worldwide record as the longest-successful artist in the charts with over 57 years, from the first chart placement in 1958 to the last in 2015.