Franz "Franzl" Lang (28 December 1930 – 6 December 2015), known as the ''Yodel King'' (), was an alpine yodeller from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany. Lang's

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

is German

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

; he typically sang in the Bavarian dialect of the rural Alpine regions.

Career

Raised in Munich, Lang trained as a toolmaker. He started playing his trademark accordion at the age of nine. His greatest hit was his 1968 recording of Karl Ganzer's composition "Das

Kufstein Kufstein (; ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 20,000 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The greatest landmark is Kufstein For ...

er Lied". Throughout the 1970s, he was a fixture on musical

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

s on

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

television, especially on the

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

program ''Lustige Musikanten''. Lang sold more than 10 million recordings, and earned 20 gold records and one platinum record within the German recording industry. On his 70th birthday, he performed for the final time.

Personal life & death

He was married to his wife Johanna since 1954; he had one son (Franz Herbert Lang, 1966–1995) and one daughter (Christl). He died at a Munich nursing home on 6 December 2015 from

Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring immediate medical intervention. There are different stages of organ dysfunction for certain different organs, both in acute and in chronic ...

. On 11 January 2016 he was buried in Munich Waldfriedhof, a forest cemetery, with multiple dedications from his family and friends.

Discography (Albums)

* 1970: Bergweihnacht (LP: Philips 63 883, Aufnahme: 1970) * 1977: Urlaub in den Bergen * 1979: Musik aus den Bergen * 1987: Schön ist's auf der Welt * 1991: Mir geht's guat * 1996: Freude am Leben * Alpen-Echo * Das original Kufsteiner Lied * Der Königsjodler * Die schönsten Volkslieder * Die schönsten Jodler der Welt * Echo der Berge * Freunde der Berge * Goldene Sonne, goldene Berge * Himmel, Harsch und Firn mit den Kaiserlich Böhmischen * Holladaratata * In Oberkrain * Jodlerkönig * Kameraden der Berge * Komm mit in die Berge * Lagerfeuer in den Bergen * Ski Heil * Stimmung beim Bier * Stimmung beim Jodlerwirt * Wir kommen von den Bergen * Zillertal, du bist mei Freud * Tirol Heimat der Berge * 10 Jahre Jubiläum beim Jodlerwirt * Im Wilden Westen * Grüß Gott in Bayern * Zünftig pfundig kreuzfidel * Das Bayernland * Der weißblaue Hammer

Filmography

* 1956: Salzburger Geschichten * 1961: Drei weiße Birken * 1961: Der Orgelbauer von St. Marien * 1961: Schlagerrevue 1962 * 1962: Tanze mit mir in den Morgen * 1962: Drei Liebesbriefe aus Tirol

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Franzl 1930 births 2015 deaths German accordionists German male guitarists Musicians from Munich German yodelers 20th-century German male singers 20th-century German male writers Deaths from multiple organ failure Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof