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Austrian Composer, Singer, Udo Jürgens Dies at Age 80

By: Dec. 22, 2014
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Udo Jürgens, Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years, has died at the age of 80. He is perhaps best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1966. But he also wrote more than 800 songs and sold over 100 million records. In 2007 he additionally obtained Swiss citizenship.

He is credited with broadening German-language pop music beyond the traditional postwar schlager in the 1960s by infusing it with a modern pop appeal. His compositions and arrangements attracted fans of all ages, and even in his 70s he continued to fill concert venues in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In 1950, he won a composer contest organized by Austria's public broadcasting channel ORF with the song "Je t'aime". He wrote the 1961 worldwide hit "Reach for the Stars", sung by Shirley Bassey

In 1964, he represented Austria for the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Warum nur warum?", finishing sixth. The UK participant, Matt Monro, was impressed with the melody and covered the song (with English lyricsby his manager Don Black) as "Walk Away," which reached number four in the UK Singles Chart and number 23 in the USBillboard Hot 100 chart.

Jürgens' song "Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen" came fourth in 1965's contest, and in 1966 he won the competition with "Merci, Chérie", which became an English-language hit for Vince Hill, another cover by Monro, and one of Jürgens' most recognized compositions. Jürgens' version alone sold over one million copies, and he was awarded a gold disc by Deutsche Vogue in 1966.

In the following years, he wrote the songs, like "Griechischer Wein", "Aber bitte mit Sahne", "Mit 66 Jahren", and - one of his biggest successes - "Buenos Días, Argentina", which he performed together with the Germany national football team in 1978.

In 1977, he invited The Supremes to appear as guests on his televised and recorded gala concert. The Supremes (Mary Wilson, Scherrie Payne, and Susaye Green), who were on a brief farewell tour of Europe at the time, performed two of their own hits, "You Are The Heart of Me" and "You're My Driving Wheel", as well as a duet with Jürgens' "Walk Away" in English.

In 1979, he released a disco album entitled Udo '80. It produced a hit song "Ich weiß was ich will". This song was also released as a 12 inch disco single in an extendedremix for discotheques.

On 2 December 2007, the jukebox musical Ich war noch niemals in New York (I've never been to New York) opened in Hamburg's Operettenhaus. It weaves songs by Jürgens into a familial storyline, similar to the treatment of ABBA songs in Mamma Mia!, the musical it succeeded at the venue.


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