Udo Jurgens

Udo Jurgens
Austrian music sensation, Udo Jurgens, was born on September 30, 1934 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria. Jurgens popularity is mainly confined with in the German speakers, as almost all of the lyrics of his songs are written in German.

Jurgens came in to the music industry in 1950, which makes his music career well over 50 years old. What became the reason of his entry in the music industry was a contest that was organized by ORF, which is an Austrian Public Broadcasting channel, in 1950.

Jurgens took part in it and composed his song Je t'aime, which led him to his victory as a composer in that contest. Shirley Basseys blockbuster worldwide hit Reach for the Stars was also penned by Udo Jurgens.

With his song Warum nur warum?, Udo Jurgens took part in the Eurovision Song Contest, while representing Austria for the first time. Although Jurgens finished fifth in the contest but still his song left a strong mark on the listeners, which is why Matt Monro, who also participated in the contest while representing UK, was so touched by the song that he released a cover of Jurgens song with English lyrics written by Don Black and the song was titled Walk Away.

The song did fairly well in on UK music charts as it peaked at #4 spot, while in US music charts it took the #23 spot. The following year, Jurgens took part in the contest yet again, and this time he participated with his song titled Sag ihr, ich lass sie gru?en, which in English means Tell Her I Send my Regards.

Out of 18 songs that were performed in the contest, his song took the 4th spot after he received 16 points. Apart from being sung in German by Jurgens, the song was also translated and performed in Italian and Spanish as well. Sag ihr, ich lass sie gru?en was re-recorded and re-released in 1972 and 1996 in German.

The very next year, Jurgens entered the Eurovision Song Contest yet again and represented Austria once again with his song titled Merci, Cherie which means Thank you, Darling in English.

This year Jurgens won the contest with his song, which is, till today, the only win brought to Austria in the contest. Merci, Cherie later was interpreted in English language by Vince Hall, and easily became an English Language hit as well.

Jurgens released his debut studio album titled Portrait in Musik 1. Folge in 1965. As of today he has released a total of 46 albums on the whole, with the recent one being released this year titled Einfach ich.

After his win in the Eurovision Song Contest, Jurgens went on giving out hit classics such as Mit 66 Jahren and Grieschischer Wein. Jurgens song titled Buenos Dias, Argentina, which he released in 1978, came out to be his biggest success of all time as he performed it with the German Football team the very same year.

A year before that Jurgens also performed a duet along with The Supremes for his song Walk Away, after he invited The Supremes to his gala concert. Apart from that duet The Supremes also performed to of their other songs titled You're My Driving Wheel and You Are the Heart of Me.

The title of Jurgens 1977 hit song Mit 66 Jahren was realized back in 2000 when the award winning Austrian composer and musician celebrated his 66th birthday that year.

Despite the fact of his growing age, Jurgens devotion to the music has not faded even slightly. He is still active, performs in tours and concerts and has also released his new studio album recently. Apart from concerts, Jurgens has also being appearing on TV films and TV Shows.

Jurgens is undoubtedly one of the most successful singers and composers across the globe, after composing well over 900 songs all through his long musical career. Udo Jurgens was also cited the woman heart throb and was given the gimmick of a womanizer at one point of his career as several women claimed Jurgens to be the father of their child.

However, Corinna became his better half on July 4, 1999, as Jurgens secretly married her in New York. By his first marriage, Jurgens had two children, John and Jenny Jurgens. John was born in 1964 and became a singer, actor and DJ by professional, while his younger sister Jenny was born in 1967 and is an actress by profession.