Tomáš Klus (born 15 May 1986) is a Czech musician and songwriter from the

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region ( cs, Moravskoslezský kraj; pl, Kraj morawsko-śląski; sk, Moravsko-sliezsky kraj) is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region ( cs, Ostravský ...

of the Czech Republic.

Life and career

Klus was born in the industrial town of

Třinec Třinec (; pl, Trzyniec ; german: Trzynietz) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants and is the least populated statutory city in the country. The city is an ...

, where he spent most of his childhood. His parents were

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

fans, and he accompanied them to many concerts and music festivals. Growing up he was heavily influenced by musicians

Karel Plíhal Karel Plíhal (born August 23, 1958 in Přerov) is a Czechs, Czech folk and jazz musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He graduated from the Industrial College of Engineering and then worked as a designer and boilerman in the Olomouc ...

Karel Kryl Karel Kryl (12 April 1944 – 3 March 1994) was an iconic Czechoslovak (Moravian born and Czech speaking) poet, singer-songwriter and author of many hit protest songs in which he identified and attacked the hypocrisy, stupidity and inhumanity of ...

and in particular

Jaromír Nohavica Jaromír Nohavica or Jarek Nohavica (born 7 June 1953, in Ostrava) is a Czech recording artist, songwriter, lyricist and poet. Early life He was born in Ostrava and has played guitar since he was 13. He began studies at the Technical Univers ...

, who is still a major influence on Klus' music. Klus moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

aged 15 to pursue a sporting career, and was a member of the gold medal winning team in

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

in the 2002 European championship. However, he later became more interested in performance art and music. In 2007 he was the winner of the Czech Talent Zlín competition. In 2008 he released his debut album, ''Cesta do záhu(d)by''. The single "Do Nebe" was played on

Czech Radio Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating since 1923. It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC. The service broadcasts throughout the Cz ...

before the album was released. He also wrote music for the Czech film ''Anglické jahody'' ("English Strawberries"). In September 2012 he graduated in drama from the Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. In 2011 he released a song called "Pánu bohu do oken" ("Into God's windows") a song critical of Czech politics and the behaviour of Czech politicians. It was performed live at

Český slavík Český slavík ( en, Czech Nightingale) is a Czech award meant to recognize outstanding achievement and annual popularity in the Czech music industry. It was established in 1996 as the successor to the Zlatý slavík awards, which was establish ...

2011, a mainstream Czech music awards ceremony. On 26 September 2011, his album ''Racek'' was released. It debuted at number one in Czech Album Sales Chart and it was certified Gold in its first week on sale. ''Racek'' spent 23 non-consecutive weeks at number one. It was the best selling album of 2011 in the Czech Republic, and later certified diamond. Tomáš Klus' latest album, entitled ''Proměnamě'', was released on 24 March 2014. It debuted at number one in Czech Album Sales Chart.

Discography

Albums: * ''Cesta do záhu(d)by'' (February 2008,

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

) * ''Hlávní uzávěr splínu'' (2009) * ''Racek'' (2011) * ''Proměnamě'' (2014) * ''Anat život není'' (2015)

Awards and certifications

Awards

* 2008 – Anděl – The best new act * 2009 – Anděl – Singer of the year * 2010 – TV Óčko Music Awards – Singer of the year * 2011 – OSA Award – The most successful young artist * 2011 –

Awards – Silver award (2nd place) in category of Male singers * 2011 – Anděl – Singer of the year * 2011 – Anděl – Album of the year award for "Racek" * 2011 – Anděl – The best selling album of the year award for "Racek" * 2011 – Žebřík Awards – Album of the year award for "Racek" * 2011 – Žebřík Awards – Male singer of the year – 2nd place * 2011 – Žebřík Awards – Song of the year award for "Nina" * 2011 – TýTý Awards – Male singer of the year – 2nd place * 2011 – TýTý Awards – The best new artist * 2012 – Český Slavík Awards – Winner in category of Male

Certifications

* 2009 – Gold album for selling more than 6,000 copies of "Cesta do záhu(d)by" * 2010 – Gold album for selling more than 8,000 copies of "Hlavní úzavěr splínu" * 2011 – Platinum album for selling more than 12,000 copies of "Hlavní uzávěr splínu" * 2011 – Gold album for selling more than 6,000 copies of "Racek" * 2011 – Platinum album for selling more than 12,000 copies of "Racek" * 2011 – Double platinum album for selling more than 24,000 copies of "Racek" * 2012 – Diamond album for selling more than 50,000 copies of "Racek"

References

External links

Tomas Klus @ Mtv.co.uk

Tomas Klus official website

Anglicke Jahody (English Strawberries)

Tomas Klus profile on Osobnosti.cz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klus, Tomas 1986 births Living people Musicians from Třinec Czech songwriters Folk-pop singers