Falco

Falco, born Johann Hölzel in Vienna in 1957, was Austria’s most internationally successful pop artist. He began his career in Vienna’s underground rock scene before launching a solo-career with the song “Ganz Wien.” His 1982 hit “Der Kommissar” and debut album “Einzelhaft” blended new wave, pop, and German rap, gaining success in Europe and the U.S. After the moderate successful album “Junge Roemer”, Falco achieved global fame in 1985 with the album “Falco 3”, featuring “Rock Me Amadeus”—to date the only German-language song to reach No. 1 in the U.S. The album also included hits like “Vienna Calling” and “Jeanny,” the latter banned by some stations due to controversial lyrics. Though later albums didn’t match this success, he remained popular in Europe with songs like “The Sound of Musik,” “Emotional,” and “Coming Home”. By end of the 1980s his international fame declined, but he continued releasing notable hits such as “Wiener Blut” (1988), “Titanic” (1992), and “Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da” (1996). Falco was working on a comeback when he died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic on February 6, 1998. Posthumously, he returned to the charts with the songs “Out Of The Dark” and “Egoist.” Over his career, he released 8 albums and left a lasting legacy as a pop icon whose influence extended far beyond Austria.