Falco (musician)
| Falco | |
|---|---|
Falco and actress Ursela Monn (1986)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Johann Hölzel |
| Born |
19 February 1957 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 6 February 1998 (aged 40) Between Villa Montellano and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1977–1998 |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Thomas Lang |
| Website | officialfalco |
Johann "Hans" Hölzel (German: [ˈjoːhan hans ˈhœlt͡sl̩]; 19 February 1957 – 6 February 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian singer, songwriter and rapper.
Falco had several international hits, "Rock Me Amadeus", "Der Kommissar", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)" and posthumously, "Out of the Dark". "Rock Me Amadeus" reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1986, making him the only artist whose principal language was German to score a vocal number-one hit in the United States (Bert Kaempfert reached No. 1 in January 1961 with the instrumental "Wonderland by Night"). According to his estate, he has sold 20 million albums and 40 million singles, which makes him the best-selling Austrian singer of all-time.
Falco was born Johann Hölzel on 19 February 1957 to Maria Hölzel in a working class district of Vienna. Maria would later recall that she had been pregnant with triplets. As it was a dizygotic pregnancy, she miscarried the identical twins during the third month and Falco, who was conceived via a separate egg, survived. Falco mused that "three souls in one breast sounds a little over dramatic, but I do sense them sometimes. In my moodiness. I'll be really up and then right after I'll be really down."
In 1963, Hölzel began his schooling at a Roman Catholic private school; four years later, at age ten, he switched to the Rainer Gymnasium in Vienna. Falco's father left the family while he was still a child, and he was raised by his mother.
Falco began to show signs of unusual musical talent very early. As a toddler, he was able to keep time with the drumbeat in songs he heard on the radio. He was given a baby grand piano for his fourth birthday; a year later, his birthday gift was a record player which he used to play music by Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, and the Beatles. At age five, he auditioned for the Vienna Music Academy, where it was confirmed that he had absolute pitch.
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