breaking news
His biggest successes were “Albany” and “Leben mit Dir”, and he had a particularly loyal fan base in Germany. British pop singer Roger Whittaker has died at the age of 87.
The pop singer Roger Whittaker is dead. As his family announced, the British native died on September 13th. He was 87 years old. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Roger Whittaker,” said the statement distributed by record label Sony. He died surrounded by his family.
“Roger was an iconic artist, a wonderful husband and father. He touched so many hearts in his life with his music and will live on in our memories forever,” the statement continued. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported.
Ballade brought the breakthrough in 1969
Born in Kenya in 1936 to English parents, Whittaker embarked on a career as a musician in the early 1960s. The career of the trained zoologist, marine biologist and biochemist only really took off at the end of the decade. His big breakthrough came in 1969 with the ballad “Durham Town”.
His biggest hits included “Albany” and “The Last Farewell.” After this song made it onto American radio and the US Top 20 in 1975, it also became a huge success in Europe. In the UK it reached number 2 on the charts, just behind Rod Stewart’s “Sailing”. Later even Elvis Presley recorded “The Last Farewell”.
“The Germans and I love hits”
Whittaker had his most loyal fan base in Germany. He therefore recorded many songs in German using phonetic transcription, although he had to struggle with the umlauts. “A Schlager is a specifically German way of making music,” Whittaker said in “Planet Interview” a few years ago. “The Germans and I love hits.”
Whittaker could only sing in German – he never really learned to speak. The British singer with the gentle baritone voice was also often in the ZDF-Hit parade and guest on other TV entertainment shows. Whittaker had been withdrawn from the public eye for years and most recently lived in the south of France with his wife Natalie.