Wolfgang "Wolle" Petry (born 22 September 1951 as ''Franz Hubert Wolfgang Remling'') is a German

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 ...

ian and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany. In 1997, he was named the leading

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

musician in terms of chart figures for the year, with his most successful album ''Alles''. He won the award for "Best Folk/Pop Artist" National/International" during the

Echo awards Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. He also won the

Goldene Stimmgabel The Goldene Stimmgabel (English: Golden Tuning Fork) was an annual prize awarded within the German music scene from 1981 to 2007. The prizes were awarded according to the number of records sold from October of the previous year to June of the year ...

award in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 for ''Most successful German solo pop act''. In 1998 and 2006 he also won the "Platinum Life Award" during the same Goldene Stimmgabel awards. In late 2017, he announced a name change to Pete Wolf. He released the album ''Happy Man'' under this moniker on 27 October, with his musical genre shifted towards

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and lyrics in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

Personal life

Petry was born in the

neighborhood of Raderthal and grew up there. After his father's death at age 16, he assumed responsibility for his 11-year-old brother. He obtained a vocational degree in

precision mechanics Precision mechanics (also "fine mechanics") is an engineering discipline that deals with the design and construction of smaller precision machines, often including measuring and control mechanisms of different kinds. The study may be further defi ...

while touring with his band in Cologne and surroundings. He married Rosemarie Remling in 1972 and had a son, Achim Petry, two years later. Achim has re-recorded or made new editions of some of his father's songs.

Discography

Albums

* 1976 – Ein Freund – Ein Mann (A Friend, a Man) * 1979 – Zweisaitig (two-sided/two-stringed) * 1980 – Ganz oder gar nicht (All or Nothing) * 1981 – Einfach leben (Easy Living) * 1982 – Der Himmel brennt (The Sky is Burning) * 1983 – Wahnsinn (Madness) * 1984 – Rauhe Wege (Rough Paths) * 1987 – Mit offenen Armen (With Open Arms) * 1988 – Manche mögen’s heiß (Some Like it Hot) * 1991 – Wo ist das Problem? (What's the Problem?) * 1992 – Verlieben, verloren, vergessen, verzeih’n (Falling in Love, Lost, Forgot, Forgive) * 1992 – Meine größten Erfolge (My Greatest Hits) * 1993 – Sehnsucht nach dir (Longing for You) * 1994 – Frei für dich (Free for You) * 1995 – Egal (Whatever) * 1996 – Alles (Everything) * 1996 – Die längste Single der Welt – Teil 1 (The Longest Single on Earth - Part 1) * 1996 – Gnadenlos (Merciless) * 1997 – Du bist ein Wunder (You're a Miracle) * 1997 – Nie genug (Never Enough) * 1998 – Freude! (Joy!) * 1998 – Einfach geil! (Simply Cool!) * 1999 – Die längste Single der Welt – Teil 2 (The Longest Single on Earth - Part 2) * 1999 – Alles – Live (Everything - Live) * 1999 – Komplett (Completely) * 2000 – Konkret (Concretely) * 2000 – Freude 2 (Joy 2) * 2001 – Achterbahn (Rollercoaster) * 2001 – Die längste Single der Welt – Teil 3 (The Longest Single on Earth - Part 3) * 2002 – Alles 2 (Everything 2) * 2003 – Kein Grund zur Panik (No reason for Panic) * 2003 – Freudige Weihnachten (Jolly Christmas) * 2004 – Typisch (Typical) * 2004 – Nur für dich (Just for You) * 2005 – ... Doppelt stark!!! (Doppel CD) (...Double Strong!!!) * 2005 – Die längste Single der Welt – Das Album (Teil 4) (The Longest Single on Earth - Part 4) * 2005 – Ich bin ene kölsche Jung (I'm a Boy from Cologne) * 2006 – Meine Lieblingslieder (My Favourite Songs) * 2006 – 30 (Abschiedsalbum) (30 - Farewell Album) * 2007 – Seine schönsten Balladen (mit 2 unveröffentlichten Titeln) (His Most Beautiful Ballads; with 2 unreleased tracks) * 2007 – Das letzte Konzert – LIVE – einfach geil! (The Last Concert - LIVE - Simply Cool) * 2008 – Alles Maxi – Seine größten Erfolge (Everything Maxi - His Greatest Hits) * 2014 – Einmal noch! (Once More!) * 2014 – Wolles fröhliche Weihnachten (Wolle's Merry Christmas) * 2015 – Brandneu (Brand-New) * 2016 – Die Jahre mit dir (The Years with You) * 2017 – Happy Man (as ''Pete Wolf Band'') * 2018 – Genau jetzt! (Right now!) * 2019 – 2084 (as ''Pete Wolf Band'') * 2021 – Auf das Leben (Here's to Life)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petry, Wolfgang German-language singers German male musicians Musicians from Cologne Schlager musicians 1951 births Living people