Charlie (born Horváth Károly in Ondód,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

, 28 October 1947) is a Hungarian rock and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

singer.

Biography

Originally a ballet dancer, Charlie began singing with Hungarian rock bands in the mid-1960s, and became known nationally as a member of Decca and Olympia. In the 1970s he spent two years in Africa and led a band called Afriaca, which inspired a new interest in

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

and soul music. Upon returning to Hungary, he started the band Generál, which toured throughout Europe and released two albums before disbanding in 1979. In 1982 he formed the band Pannonia Express which toured internationally throughout the decade. In 1989, Charlie formed the soul act Tátrai Band with guitarist Tibor Tátrai. In 1994, Charlie went solo and has released several solo albums, most of which reached the Hungarian charts. He was chosen to represent Hungary in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaste ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, where he performed his song "

A holnap már nem lesz szomorú A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

" ("Sadness Will Be Over Tomorrow"). He finished in 23rd place. Charlie has received several honorary awards in Hungary, including the Liszt Ferenc Prize (1997) and the Petofi Music Award (2020). He was made an honorary citizen of Budapest in 2018. Charlie was married to Katalin Széles from 1978 until her death in 2014. His son Ákos is also a musician and the two have collaborated several times.

Discography

*''Charlie'' (1994) *''Mindenki valakié'' (1995) *''Csak a zene van'' (1996) *''Just Stay Who You Are'' (English language album, 1996) *''Annyi minden történt'' (1997) *''Fűszer cseppenként'' (1998) *''Greatest Hits'' (compilation, 1999) *''Jazz'' (2001) *''Soul & Jazz'' (2002) *''Majd játszom, mikor érzem'' (DVD, 2002) *''Funky, Soul & Jazz'' (2003) *''Trilógia'' (compilation, 2003) *''Greatest Hits 2'' (compilation, 2004) *''Másképp ugyanúgy'' (2006) *''Platina sorozat'' (compilation, 2006) *''Mindenen túl'' (2020)

References

External links

* (in Hungarian)
Information from All Music website
(in Hungarian) * Hungarian pop singers 20th-century Hungarian male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Hungary Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1998 1947 births Living people 21st-century Hungarian male singers {{Hungary-singer-stub