Tony Holiday (born Rolf Peter Knigge; 24 February 1951 – 14 February 1990) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

pop and schlager singer and songwriter.

Career

Knigge was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He began his career initially as a textile businessman and fashion designer. In 1974, he received a record contract with Hans Bertram, who rechristened him "Tony Holiday". His first two singles met with little success. Holiday's breakthrough came in 1977 with the German recording of Italian singer

Raffaella Carrà Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), known professionally as Raffaella Carrà () and sometimes mononymously as Raffaella, was an Italian singer, dancer, actress, television presenter and model. She is often widely cons ...

's 1976 single " A far l'amore comincia tu", retitled "Tanze Samba mit Mir" ("Dance the Samba With Me"). The song quickly became a hit in both Germany and Austria, peaking at No. 4 on the German music charts and reaching the Top 20 on the Austrian music charts. In 1979, he participated with the title "Zuviel Tequila, zuviel schöne Mädchen" ("Too Much Tequila, Too Many Beautiful Girls") in the German finals for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

and the song finished in ninth place. Between 1975 and 1984, Holiday performed 11 times on the popular German music television program ''

ZDF-Hitparade The ''ZDF-Hitparade'', or ''Hitparade'' for short, by German TV channel ZDF, was one of the most popular and most well-known music television series presenting mostly German Schlager. From 1969 to 1984 the presenter was Dieter Thomas Heck. The l ...

''. In 1980, Holiday scored a second European hit with "Nie mehr allein sein" which reached the number 15 on the German music charts. The song was a reworking of "Sun of Jamaica" by the German band

Goombay Dance Band Goombay Dance Band is a German band created in 1979 by Oliver Bendt, named after a small bay on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. Their music has a distinctive sound (somewhat similar to Boney M.), which is a mixture of Soca music, soca, Calyps ...

. Holiday subsequently hosted several music programs on television and released several more singles throughout the 1980s.

Death and legacy

Holiday was gay, but did not publicly acknowledge his homosexuality. He died on Valentine's Day, 1990 of an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related illness in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, aged 38, just ten days shy of his 39th birthday. In 2000, Tony Holiday's single "Tanze Samba mit Mir" was prominently featured in the Teddy Award-winning

François Ozon François Ozon (; born 15 November 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter. Ozon is considered one of the most important modern French filmmakers. His films are characterized by aesthetic beauty, sharp satirical humor and a free-wheeli ...

directed film ''Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes'' ('' Water Drops on Burning Rocks''), an adaptation of the play ''Tropfen auf heiße Steine'' by German filmmaker and dramatist

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

.Kinoeye. ''Identity and love: The not-so discreet charm of François Ozon
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Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday, Tony 1951 births 1990 deaths 20th-century German male singers AIDS-related deaths in Switzerland German pop singers German male songwriters German schlager musicians German LGBTQ songwriters German gay musicians German LGBTQ singers Gay songwriters Musicians from Hamburg Gay singers German expatriates in Switzerland 20th-century German LGBTQ people