Roy Black

The German schlager singer known as Roy Black was born Gerhard Höllerich on January 25, 1943 in the town of Bobingen. Like many young adults from his generation, he got into music through rock’n’roll. At the age of 20, he founded his first band Roy Black and His Cannons, a name that paid homage to his longtime musical hero, Roy Orbison. The group quickly gained local fame and recognition, which led to a deal with Polydor Records. Soon enough, producer Hans Bertram noticed Roy Black’s star power and convinced him to start singing romantic songs. The move paid off, and his 1966 single “Ganz in Weiß” sold over one million copies. That year, his eponymous studio debut climbed to Number 2 on the German charts—a feat only surpassed by its follow-up album Roy Black 2, which achieved pole position in 1967. Over the course of the next decade, he released a series of albums that enjoyed moderate success in his native Germany, such as Wo bist Du? (1971), Träume in Samt und Seide (1972), and Grün Ist die Heide (1973). Roy Black disappeared from the charts during the 80s but returned to the German Top 5 in 1991 with the album Rosenzeit, released a few months before his death on October 9, 1991.

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