Falco

Emerging from Austria with unmatched global reach among the nation’s pop acts, Falco earned his greatest fame through the chart-topping 1986 single “Rock Me Amadeus.” Johann Holzel was born in Vienna on February 19, 1957, and displayed exceptional classical ability from an early age. After finishing at the Vienna Conservatoire he moved to West Berlin, where he fronted a jazz-rock group. He adopted the name Falco to honor German skier Falko Weissflog, then returned to Vienna and played bass on the punk band Drahdiwaberl’s 1979 album Psycho Today, for which he also wrote their signature song “Ganz Wein.”

His solo debut, the 1982 LP Einzelhaft, featured “Der Kommissar,” a track that merged techno-pop with German-language rap and became a major European success while gaining club play in the United States; a cover by After the Fire later climbed to the Top Five in 1983. The next single, “Jeanny,” was banned from radio over its prostitution theme yet still reached number one on the German charts. Junge Roemer, issued in 1984, drew scant notice, but Falco 3 arrived in 1986 and spotlighted “Rock Me Amadeus,” a theatrical fusion of classical motifs and synth-pop that topped both the American and British charts. The rock ballad “Vienna Calling” achieved only modest success, and later releases such as 1986’s Emotional and 1988’s Wiener Blut failed to regain momentum. Long removed from public view, Falco died in a car accident on February 6, 1998, at age 40.