Marco Kunz (born 14 August 1985 in
Mauensee), better known as simply Kunz, is a Swiss singer from
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
.
Biography
Marco Kunz was born in Mauensee, Switzerland into a musical family. His father was a yodeller, and the family commonly sang together. He discovered his personal passion for music after secretly practicing on his sister's guitar. His first musical award was winning the junior yodel prize at 10 years old. He then became a member of the Surseer youth choir, and also performed in a rock band. In 2006, he became a member of the Swiss a cappella group ''a-live,'' who performed internationally. From 2007, he was the conductor of ''b-live'' choir in
Küsnacht
Küsnacht is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.
History
Küsnacht is first mentioned in 1188 as ''de Cussenacho''.
Earliest findings of settlement date back to the stone age. There are also findi ...
, then became the musical director of ''a-live.'' In 2010, he made solo appearances with his own music and left ''a-live'' in 2012 after signing a contract with
Universal. Also in 2012, he recorded a mini album ''Chopf, Härz, Hand'' with six songs. In December 2012, he won the young talent award for best singer at the ''Small Prix Walo.''
In May 2014, Kunz released his first full album ''Eifach so.'' It entered the
Swiss Hitparade
The Swiss Hitparade (german: link=no, Schweizer Hitparade) is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.
The Swiss charts include:
* Singles Top ...
at number 21, and continued to stay in the top 100 for over a year. It reached a high of number 13, following an appearance by Kunz at a Bern radio station, Energy Air. This also helped ''Lüüt so wie mer'' to 3rd place in the single charts. ''Eifach so'' was then awarded a
gold record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
for 10,000 units sold.
His second album, ''Mundart Folk'' (also how Kunz describes his genre), was released in 2015. It entered the charts at
number one
Number One most commonly refers to:
* 1 (number)
Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song
* ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song
* ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC
* ''n.1 ...
, and spent almost a year in the charts. In spring 2016, he received Newcomer of the Year 2015 at the
Prix Walo
The Prix Walo is the most important award in Swiss show business. It is known as the " Swiss Oscar".
Awards since 1994 Honorable - Walo - awards
* 1983: Charly Fritsche
* 1991: Eynar Grabowsky
* 1992: Willi Schmidt, First Harmonic Brass Ba ...
. He also contributed the song ''Chliini Händ'' to the film Schellen-Ursli. In 2017, his third album ''No Hunger'' was released, and it reached
number one in the Swiss charts.
In 2021, he took part in the second season of ''Sing meinen Song – Das Schweizer Tauschkonzert,'' a Swiss remake of the German reality show
Sing meinen Song – Das Tauschkonzert
''Sing meinen Song – Das Tauschkonzert'' ( "Sing My Song – The Exchange Concert") is a German reality television series produced by Schwartzkopff TV Productions and broadcast on German television station VOX. Part of '' The Best Singers'' ...
.
In March 2021, Kunz released his fifth album, ''Mai.''
Discography
Albums
* ''Eifach so'' (2014)
* ''Mundart Folk'' (2015)
* ''No Hunger'' (2017)
* ''Förschi'' (2019)
* ''Mai'' (2021)
* ''Weisch no (Live Unplugged)'' (2023)
EPs
* ''Chopf, Härz, Hand'' (2012)
Singles
* ''Lüüt so wie mer'' (2014)
* ''Olten'' (2015)
* ''Chliini Händ'' (2015)
* ''Schlof nome ii (Live)'' 2017
* ''L.I.E.B.I'' (2018)
* ''S Gröschte'' (2019)
* ''Üses Lied'' (2019)
* ''Möuchstross'' (2020)
* ''mitenand'' (2022)
* ''Us de Region'' (2022)
* ''Sing Sing'' (2023)
Awards and nominations
Awards
* 2015: Prix Walo - "Newcomer"
* 2017: Prix Walo - "Pop / Rock"
Nominations
* 2018:
Swiss Music Awards
The Swiss Music Awards (SMA) is Switzerland's largest award ceremony for music, and serves to promote the national music scene and showcase its cultural diversity. The event allows newcomers to introduce their music to a broader public, while also ...
- "Best Male Solo Act"
* 2020: Swiss Music Awards - "Best Male Solo Act"
* 2020: Swiss Music Awards - "Best Album" (for ''Förschi'')
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunz
21st-century Swiss male singers
1985 births
Living people