Kati Kovács (born Katalin Anna Sarolta Kovács 25 October 1944), is a Ferenc Liszt and Kossuth Award-winning

Hungarian pop Hungarian pop is the pop music scene of Hungary. It is often associated with Rezső Seress's song "Gloomy Sunday" which was covered by numerous artists. The most notable artists include Zsuzsa Koncz, Kati Kovács, János Bródy, Zorán Sztevanovit ...

-rock singer, performer, lyricist and actress. She is one of the most famous singers of Hungary with dozens of recorded albums, awards and presentations in Hungary and abroad, and with international recognition and a very active career until today. Kovacs is known for her raspy and very strong

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

singing voice which received wide praise from Hungarian music critics who have called her: "The Best Female Voice of Hungary". She can sing opera, rock, jazz, pop, dance, blues and rock and roll.

Career

She appeared first time on stage in 1962. She became the first famous nationally in 1965 when she won the seminal TV talent show in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

" Ki mit tud?". A year later, she achieved some even greater successes with her performance of the song ''I Won't Be Your Plaything'' (''Nem leszek a játékszered'') which won the TV Dance Song Festivals in

in 1966. In 1968 she played the leading roles in some films, for example ''The Girl''. The psychedelic spiritual ''Lord Send Us Rain'' (''Add már, uram, az esőt!'') won the Hungarian Dance Song Festival and the German Song Contest in 1972. She worked with the Hungarian rock band

Locomotiv GT Locomotiv GT (often abbreviated LGT, and sometimes using the nickname Loksi) was a Hungarian rock band formed in 1971. Starting out as a progressive rock band, they later experimented with many other styles including jazz, funk, and pop. During ...

on three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s ('' Kovács Kati & Locomotiv GT'', '' Közel a naphoz'' and ''

Kati KATI (94.3 FM), branded as 94.3 KAT Country, is a radio station which broadcasts country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Licensed to California, Missouri, the station serves the Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, ...

'') and a

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products, such as video game co ...

('' Rock and Roller''). In 1974 she won the

Castlebar Song Contest The Castlebar Song Contest was an annual international song contest that was first staged in 1966 in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. The contest was initially organised by the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce as part of a drive to increase tourism ...

in Ireland with the song ''Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue'' (''Nálad lenni újra jó lenne''). She appeared as a singer in the 1977 Hungarian film '' Ök ketten'' (''Women''), which was directed by

Márta Mészáros Márta Mészáros (born 19 September 1931) is a Hungarian screenwriter and film director. The daughter of László Mészáros, a sculptor, Mészáros began her career working in documentary film, having made 25 documentary shorts over the span o ...

. Since 1979 she sang the covers of several disco and hit songs in Hungary originally performed by

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking a ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Tanita Tikaram Tanita Tikaram (born 12 August 1969) is a British Pop music, pop/folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She achieved chart success with the singles "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, ''Ancient Heart''. Backgrou ...

, Sam Brown,

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

etc. Besides singing, Kati Kovács also writes lyrics. One of her best known works which she also performed is the lyrics to

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

’ composition '' 1492: The Conquest of Paradise''. Since 23 October 2009 she works with the psychedelic soul-beat band The Qualitons. They had a very successful concert in Budapest with the singer's rare beat and funk songs. It is said to be Kati's big comeback. In 2010 they are on tour around the country. They were planning a new album together but their connection is lost.

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

's 2010 single " Woohoo" contains a sample from the song ''Add már, uram, az esőt!''.

Awards

* Music Week Star of the Year Award (England) in 1974 *

Liszt Prize Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

in 1986 *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of ...

– Knight's Cross in 1994 * Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Officer's Cross in 2011 * Honorary Citizen of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 2011 *

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

in 2014

Albums

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Kati 1944 births Living people Hungarian rock singers Hungarian women rock singers 20th-century Hungarian women singers Hungarian pop singers Hungarian women pop singers Hungarian jazz singers Hungarian women jazz singers 21st-century Hungarian women singers German-language singers of Hungary

Career

Awards

Albums

See also

References

External links