Franz Lang | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Franz Lang |
| Also known as | Yodelking (Jodlerkönig) |
| Born | 28 December 1930 Munich, Bavaria, Weimar Republic |
| Died | 6 December 2015 (aged 84) Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Years active | 1957–2000 |
| Labels | Universal Music GmbH |
Franz "Franzl" Lang (28 December 1930 – 6 December 2015), known as the Yodel King (German: Jodlerkönig), was an alpine yodeller from Bavaria, Germany. Lang's genre is German folk music; he typically sang in the Bavarian dialect of the rural Alpine regions.[1]
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 Kufsteiner Lied". Throughout the 1970s, he was a permanent feature of musical variety shows on West German television, especially on the ZDF program Lustige Musikanten. Lang had his song Der Jodelexpress featured in the soviet anti war film Come and See.
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.[2]
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. On 11 January 2016 he was buried in Munich Waldfriedhof, a forest cemetery, with multiple dedications from his family and friends.[1][2]
