Tom Astor (born February 27, 1943 in Schmallenberg) is a singer, composer, lyricist and producer from Germany. The artist, born Wilhelm Bräutigam, is musically active in the pop and country genres. Tom Astor's long music career began in the early 1960s as a pop singer. From the late 1970s, he devoted himself primarily to country music in Germany. The singer also performed at several country festivals in the USA, the motherland of country music. Tom Astor's breakthrough in Germany came in 1984 with the song "Hallo, guten Morgen Deutschland". His fame in the country music scene increases through numerous television appearances. In 1993, Tom Astor reached number 37 and gold status in Germany with the album Flieg, junger Adler. In 1994, he was awarded the German music prize Goldene Stimmgabel (Golden Tuning Fork). In 2000, Tom Astor became the first country music star from Germany to appear on the popular US radio show Grand Ole Opry. Further international collaborations followed, for example in 2007 on the album Duette. On this album, the singer performed songs with well-known US artists such as Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Waylon Jennings, Billy Swan and Willie Nelson. In 2008, a collaboration with the singer and entertainer Dolly Parton followed on the album Alles klar - kein Problem! In recent years, things have become somewhat quieter around the German country star. Nevertheless, Tom Astor's albums have repeatedly made it into the German charts, for example reaching number 27 in 2018 with the longplayer Gegen den Strom. Now 80 years old, Tom Astor released the album Wieder da! in 2023 and climbed to number 28 in the German charts.
