Ludwig Hirsch

An Austrian singer and songwriter born in Sankt Magdalena am Lemberg, Styria in 1946, Ludwig Hirsch spent the greater part of his childhood in Vienna. He began by pursuing visual art in his university studies, then performed as a member of the Theater in der Josefstadt from 1975 until 1979. His first record, Dunkelgraue Lieder (Dark Grey Songs), appeared in 1978; its reception quickly established him as a leading figure in the rising Austropop movement that would later include Falco among its successful artists.

Although his compositions often carried a darkly sardonic edge, Hirsch enjoyed widespread popularity and received several honors in his lifetime, among them a 1993 postage stamp issued by the Austrian postal service and an Amadeus Austrian Music Award for the 2002 album Perlen (Pearls). On November 24, 2011, he died after leaping from a window at a Vienna hospital where he was reportedly receiving treatment for lung cancer. The following year the Association of the Austrian Music Industry posthumously presented him with its IFPI Lifetime Achievement Award.