Donald Edgar "Gus" Backus (September 12, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American singer. He started his career as a member of

The Del-Vikings The Del-Vikings (also known as The Dell-Vikings) were an American doo-wop musical group that recorded several hit singles in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group is notable for the hit song ...

and later became a successful Schlager singer in Germany.

Life and career

Backus was born on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and started his music career with the Del-Vikings, the first notable doo-wop group with both black and white members which had two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top Ten hits. After he was stationed as an Airman in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

Wiesbaden Air Base Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in 1957, Backus had to leave The Del-Vikings and started singing

Schlager music Schlager music (, " hit(s)") is a style of European popular music that is generally a catchy instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, happy-go-lucky, and often sentimental lyrics. Typical Schlager tracks are eith ...

in 1960s

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He sang all his songs in German with an American accent. 19 of his songs between 1960 and 1967 made the charts, including eight Top Ten hits. He landed a Number 1 hit in the German charts with his song "Der Mann im Mond" ("The Man in the Moon") in 1961. Backus also did German cover versions of songs by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, whom he met at one time,

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

, and Conway Twitty. In addition to singing, Backus also appeared in nearly 30 film and television productions between 1959 and 1970, often showcasing his songs. Backus came back to America for some years in the 1970s and worked as a foreman on oil fields in Texas, later returning to Germany. He lived for the rest of his life in

Germering Germering (Central Bavarian: ''Geamaring'') is a Town#Germany, town of approximately 40,500 within the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It is directly adjacent to the city of Munich and borders it t ...

near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and retired from singing in 2014. He was married three times and fathered four children.

Discography (selection)

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* * *
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Backus, Gus 1937 births 2019 deaths People from Southampton (town), New York American expatriates in Germany American male pop singers Schlager musicians German-language singers of the United States Carlton Records artists