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Jürgen Udo Bockelmann (30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014), generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the
Eurovision Song Contest 1966 The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. Organised ...
for Austria, composed close to 1,000 songs, and sold over 104 million records. In 2007, he additionally obtained Swiss citizenship. In 2010, he legally changed his name to Udo Jürgens Bockelmann. He is credited with broadening German-language pop music beyond the traditional post-war " schlager" (hit song) in the 1950s by infusing it with a modern pop appeal and French
chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...
style. His compositions and arrangements attracted fans of all ages, and he continued to fill venues in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland until his death at age 80.


Career

In 1952, Udo Bolan, as he was called then, formed the Udo Bolan Quartet in Klagenfurt, Austria, appearing regularly at the Café Obelisk in Klagenfurt with Englishman Johnny Richards on drums, Klaus Behmel on guitar, and Bruno Geiger on Bass. The quartet played regularly at various dance and jazz venues and also broadcast on Radio Alpenland and the British Forces Radio network produced by Mike Fior. 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 Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...
. In 1964, Jürgens represented Austria for the first time at the
Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Grethe Ingmann, Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the E ...
with the song " Warum nur, warum?", finishing sixth. The UK participant,
Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...
, was impressed with the melody and
covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...
the song (with English lyrics by his manager Don Black) as "Walk Away", which reached number four in the UK Singles Chart and number 23 in the US ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
. Jürgens' song " Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen" came fourth in 1965's
contest CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...
, and on his third try, he won the
Eurovision Song Contest 1966 The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. Organised ...
in Luxembourg with "
Merci, Chérie "Merci, Chérie" (; "Thank you, darling") is a song composed and recorded by Austrian singer Udo Jürgens with lyrics by himself and Thomas Hörbiger. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, resulting in the ...
", 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 Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by Deutsche Vogue in 1966. In the following years, Jürgens wrote 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 The Germany national football team () represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund''), founded ...
in 1978 in Argentina. In 1977, he invited
The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
to appear as guests on his televised and recorded gala concert. The Supremes ( Mary Wilson, Scherrie Payne, and
Susaye Greene Susaye Greene (born September 13, 1950) is an American singer and songwriter. She was the last official member to join the Motown girl group The Supremes, remaining in the group during its final year of existence from 1976 to 1977. She is a suc ...
), 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 A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...
with Jürgens' "Walk Away" in English. In 1979, he released a
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
album entitled ''Udo '80'', which spawned the hit single "Ich weiß was ich will". This song was also released as a 12" disco single in an extended
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
for nightclubs. On 2 December 2007, the
jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...
''Ich war noch niemals in New York'' ("I've never been to New York") opened in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
's Operettenhaus. It weaves songs by Jürgens into a familial storyline, similar to the treatment of
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
songs in '' Mamma Mia!,'' the musical succeeded at the venue. Like
Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...
, Jürgens is very famous in Argentina, where he has one of the biggest fan bases outside of German speaking countries. Since 2015, Jürgens holds the worldwide-record as the artist with the longest presence in the charts ever—more than 57 years from his first entry 1958 till 2015. On 16 December 2022, a new album consisting of his legacies was released by his children. This reached #1 on the German charts on 24 December. Thus, Jürgens has been in the German charts for more than eight decades.


Cover versions

"
Merci, Chérie "Merci, Chérie" (; "Thank you, darling") is a song composed and recorded by Austrian singer Udo Jürgens with lyrics by himself and Thomas Hörbiger. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, resulting in the ...
", whose original German lyrics were written by Thomas Hörbiger, has been translated or adapted into several languages and covered by dozens of artists in both vocal and instrumental recordings. These versions include: * "Merci Chérie" by Claude Carrère and André Salvet (French) * "Merci" by Vito Pallavicini (Italian) * "Merci Cherie" by Baker Cavendish (English) * "Merci Cherie" by Fred Bekky (Dutch) * "Merci Chérie" by Al Sandström (Swedish) * "Merci Chérie" by Gina Trandafirescu (Romanian) * "Merci Cheri" by Andrzej Ozga (Polish) Jürgens himself recorded many of the translations for international release, including a version in Japanese. More recent covers include
Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...
's 2007 recording of the French version. In addition to recording Cavendish's "Merci, Chérie" lyric,
Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...
covered five more Jürgens compositions, all with English lyrics (unrelated to the German ones), written by his manager Don Black. Four of these became closely associated with Monro (and were subsequently covered by Jürgens himself): * "Warum nur warum?" became "Walk Away" (a 1964 Top 40 hit in both the U.S. and UK) * "Du sollst die Welt für mich sein" became "Without You" (a 1965 UK Top 40 hit) * "Was ich dir sagen will" became "The Music Played" (1968) * "Illusionen" became " If I Never Sing Another Song" (1977), which was later performed by
Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performa ...
,
Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...
, Sammy Davis Jr., and other entertainers. A fifth Jürgens song, "In dieser Welt", became "Lovin' You Again", and in 1969, Matt Monro recorded both Spanish and English versions, the latter not released until August 2012. (Monro also recorded Spanish versions of "Walk Away" and "The Music Played"; all three Spanish lyrics were adapted for Monro from Don Black's versions by Leonardo Schultz, who also produced the Spanish recordings.) In one of his last recording sessions,
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
covered an English version of Jürgens' "Griechischer Wein" called "Come Share the Wine", which also was written by Black. The song was released after Crosby's death in 1977 as the title track of a compilation album and was later recorded by
Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino, was an American traditional pop and standards singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one o ...
. In 1979,
Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...
released an English version of "Buenos Dias Argentina" that became a latter-day standard for Robbins. In the early 1990s, German
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band Sodom released a 'metalized' cover of the boogie " Aber bitte mit Sahne". In 2009, the German band
Sportfreunde Stiller Sportfreunde Stiller () is a German indie rock band from Germering near Munich, Bavaria. History The band was founded by Peter Brugger (guitar, vocals), Florian "Flo" Weber (drums), and Andi Erhard (bass). They initially wanted to name themse ...
covered "Ich war noch niemals in New York" together with Jürgens on their ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...
'' concert in Munich.


Death

On December 21, 2014, Udo Jürgens collapsed unconscious during a walk in the municipality of Gottlieben (
Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...
), where he had rented a house. Despite resuscitation attempts, he passed away at the Cantonal Hospital in Münsterlingen at the age of 80 due to heart failure. Two weeks earlier, he had completed the first part of his 25th concert tour in Zurich which covered 27 cities. The tour began on October 24, 2014 in
Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...
and ended in Zurich Hallenstadion on December 7, 2014. His final public performance took place on December 12, 2014, at the Velodrom in Berlin during the Helene Fischer Show. The performance was broadcast on
ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...
on December 25, 2014. On January 15, 2015, around 200 friends, family and companions gathered in
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
for a memorial service to bid farewell to Udo Jürgens. His urn was placed in the Volkshalle of the
Vienna City Hall The Vienna City Hall (; Help:IPA/Standard German, �aːtˌhaʊs is the town hall of Vienna, Austria, located in the Innere Stadt on the Rathausplatz, Vienna, Rathausplatz, off the Ringstrasse. The Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival bu ...
, allowing the public to pay their final respects. High-ranking officials, including the then Austrian President
Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI, Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO, Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is an Austrian politician who served as the pre ...
and Chancellor
Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...
, signed the condolence books. Jürgens was laid to rest in an honorary grave of the City of Vienna at the
Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...
. The gravestone, depicting a grand piano draped in a white mourning cloth, was designed by his brother Manfred Bockelmann and sculpted in Laas marble by artist Hans Muhr. The memorial plaque features one of his lyrics—after multiple corrections of an initially misspelled inscription—reading: "Ihr seid das Notenblatt, das alles für mich war. Ich lass’ Euch alles – ich lass’ Euch alles da!" ("You are the sheet music that meant everything to me. I leave you everything – I leave you everything behind!"). Between January 23 and January 30 2025, a selection of Udo Jürgens' possessions was auctioned by
Sotheby’s Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintain ...
. The proceeds will go to the Udo Jürgens Foundation, which supports children without parental care and provides assistance to young musical talents. One of the highlights of the auction was a Schimmel transparent concert grand piano from Jürgens' estate, which sold for €240,000—far exceeding its estimated value which had originally been valued at €20,000 to €30,000. The auction, which included many other memorabilia from Jürgens’ life, saw overwhelming demand, with nearly 400 bidders placing a total of 3,150 bids. In the end, the total auction proceeds amounted to approximately €1.7 million—far surpassing the initial estimate of €370,000 to €500,000 for the entire collection.https://www.nau.ch/news/europa/udo-jurgens-flugel-bringt-240000-euro-bei-auktion-ein-66901816


Family

* His brother, Manfred Bockelmann (born 1 July 1943), is a painter. * His son by his first marriage, John Jürgens (born 20 February 1964), is a singer, actor and DJ. * His daughter by his first marriage, Jenny Jürgens (born 22 January 1967), is an actress. * His uncle, Werner Bockelmann (23 September 1907 – 7 April 1968), was mayor of
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. As Jürgens was not the real family name of Udo Jürgens, he was not related to real Jürgens' like the singer
Andrea Jürgens Andrea Jürgens (15 May 1967 – 20 July 2017) was a German schlager singer. She became famous as a child star in the late 1970s when she had her first hit with "Und dabei liebe ich euch beide" (And Yet I Love You Both) at age 10. She released ...
(1967 – 2017) or the actor Curd Jürgens (1915 – 1982).


Discography

* "Portrait in Musik" (1965) * "Merci, Chérie" (1966, Eurovision Song Contest) * "Chansons" (1967) * "Portrait in Musik – 2. Folge" (1967) * "Was ich dir sagen will" (1967) * "Mein Lied für dich" (1968) * "Udo" (1968) * "Wünsche zur Weihnachtszeit" (1968) * "Udo Live" (1969) * "Portrait International" (1969) * "Udo '70" (1969) * "Udo '71" (1970) * "Zeig mir den Platz an der Sonne" (1971) * "Helden, Helden" (musical) (1972) * "Ich bin wieder da" (1972) * "Udo in Concert – Europatournee '72/'73" (1973) * "International 2" (1973) * "Live in Japan" (1973) * "Udo heute" (1974) * "Meine Lieder" (1974) * "Udo '75" (1975) * "Meine Lieder 2" (1976) * "Udo Live '77" (1977) * "Meine Lieder '77" (1977) * "Lieder, die auf Reisen gehen" (1978) * "Buenos Días Argentina" (football world championship) (1978) * "Ein Mann und seine Lieder – Live" (1978) * "Nur ein Lächeln" (1979) * "Udo '80" (1979) * "Meine Lieder sind wie Hände – Live" (1980) * "Leave a Little Love" (1981) * "Willkommen in meinem Leben" (1981) * "Silberstreifen" (1982) * "Udo Live – Lust am Leben" (1982) * "Traumtänzer" (1983) * "Hautnah" (1984) * "Udo live und hautnah" (1985) * "Treibjagd" (1985) * "Deinetwegen" (1986) * "Udo Live '87" (1987) * "Das blaue Album" (1988) * "Sogar Engel brauchen Glück" (best-of compilation including five remakes) (1989) * "Ohne Maske" (1989) * "Live ohne Maske" (1990) * "Sempre Roma" (football world championship) (1990) * " Das Traumschiff" (instrumental soundtrack) (1990) * "Geradeaus" (1991) * "Open Air Symphony" (1992) * "Café Größenwahn" (1993) * "Aber bitte mit Sahne" (hits compilation including a new song and two remakes) (1994) * "140 Tage Café Größenwahn Tour 94/95" (1995) * "Zärtlicher Chaot" (1995) * "Gestern-Heute-Morgen" (1996) * "Gestern-Heute-Morgen – Live '97" (1997) * "Aber bitte mit Sahne 2" (hits compilation including eight remakes) (1998) * "Ich werde da sein" (1999) * "Mit 66 Jahren (Was wichtig ist)" (2000) * "Mit 66 Jahren – Live 2001" (2001) * "Es lebe das Laster" (2002) * "Es werde Licht" (2003) * "Es Lebe das Laster – Udo Live" (2004) * "Jetzt oder nie" (2005) * "Der Solo-Abend – Live am Gendarmenmarkt" (2005) * "Jetzt oder nie – Live 2006" (2006) * "Einfach ich" (2008) * "Einfach ich – Live 2009" (2009) * "Best Of" (including a remake live by ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...
'') (2009) * "Der ganz normale Wahnsinn" (2011) * "Der Mann mit dem Fagott" (soundtrack to his own film) (2011) * "Der ganz normale Wahnsinn – Live" (2012) * "Mitten im Leben" (2014) * "Udo Jürgens Live – Das letzte Konzert Zürich 2014 mit dem Orchester Pepe Lienhard" (new live album recorded at his last concert of his last tour, 7 December 2014, only two weeks before he died) (2015) * "Merci, Udo!" (2016) * "Merci, Udo! 2" (2017) * "Da Capo - 3 CD Box" (2022) * "Die schönsten Lieder zur Weihnachtszeit" (2023)


Selected filmography

*'' Our Crazy Aunts'' (1961), as Pitt van Rees *'' Drei Liebesbriefe aus Tirol'' (1962), as Martin Hinterkirchner *'' Dance with Me Into the Morning'' (1962), as Max Kainz *'' Our Crazy Nieces'' (1963), as Pitt van Rees *'' Our Crazy Aunts in the South Seas'' (1964), as Pitt van Rees *''Das Spukschloß im Salzkammergut'' (1966), as Udo As himself *'' The Legs of Dolores'' (1957) *' (1961) *''Hochzeit am Neusiedler See'' (1963) *' (1966) Soundtrack * ' (1976) Film adaptations * ' (2011) – Based on Udo Jürgens' autobiography * ' (2019) – Musical, based on songs by Udo Jürgens


References


External links

* *Wolfgang Spahr
''Casebook Udo Jürgens''
Billboard, 26. März 1994
Excerpts from a thesis on Jürgens (2002)
by Christian Mädler * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurgens, Udo 1934 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Austrian male singers 21st-century Austrian male singers Eurovision Song Contest winners United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees goodwill ambassadors Musicians from Klagenfurt Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Vogue Schallplatten artists Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters