Peter Maffay
Peter Maffay |
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Peter Maffay (born August 30, 1949 in the Romanian town of Braşov, German: Kronstadt; real name: Peter Alexander Makkay) is a German musician.
Biography
The son of a German (Transylvanian Saxon) mother and a Hungarian father, in 1963, Maffay and his parents were part of the migration of Transylvanian Saxons from the Siebenbürgen Transylvania to Germany. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes. After completing his education and working for Chemigraphics, an art manufacturer, Maffay worked in clubs, where he distributed his music.
Career
Peter Maffay's career began in 1969 with the publication of his first single, "Du" (You in German). It was the biggest German hit in 1970 and brought Maffay instant fame. With the album Steppenwolf in 1979, Maffay became a major music star in Germany. The album sold 1.6 million copies, making it the best selling LP at that time. In 1980, the album Revanche (Revenge) broke his previous record, selling 2.1 million copies.
Maffay holds the German record for the most number one ranked singles in the single and album sales charts, including 12 albums.[1] In addition, most of his studio albums reached the top ten.[1] He also holds a German record for most albums to have sold over one million copies, with 14. His latest album ,Laut und Leise (Loud and Quiet), became the fourteenth.
Altogether, Maffay has sold over 35 million records. Since 1980, each of his 13 tours (roughly every 2 years) has ranked among the three most visited attractions each season in Germany, with nine of them ranked first in that category.
Maffay also created a string of fairy tales about a little green dragon named Tabaluga, which was spread out onto four albums. The piece was also turned into a musical. Maffay went on tour individually with Tabaluga & Lilli in Germany; he later released a live album, DVD and live TV broadcast. The tour included Peter Maffay, Alexis, Nino de Angelo, Rufus Beck, and Carl Carlton among others.
In 1998, Maffay collaborated to create an album with artists from all corners of the world, including Aboriginal singers and musicians from Israel, called "Begegnungen". Julia Neigel, another famous German artist, is one of the musicians he usually works with in lyrics and singing in duets. She was writing for him the Top-Singles "Freiheit die ich meine" and "Siehst Du die Sonne", a cover from Michel Polnareff "Le Poupeé qui fait non"
He also starred in two films directed by Peter Patzak: The Joker in 1986, and Captured in Yemen in 1999. In addition, Maffay played a supporting role in the feature "The Polar Bear".
Personal life
Peter Maffay is active in politics and sometimes inserts his own political stances into his music. He is a peace activist, and in 2005 he performed a concert for German ISAF troops in Afghanistan. Maffay also donates to projects for traumatised and abused children. On the Spanish island of Majorca, he established a ranch where traumatised children from all over the world can have a free two-week holiday to help them cope with their problems. For his social commitment, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 1996, and, in 2001, he received an award called "Goldene Henne" ("The Golden Hen").
Peter Maffay has been married four times, has a son and lives with his family on a farm on Majorca. One of his hobbies is motorcycle riding. In 1972, Maffay was severely injured in an accident after crashing his Harley Davidson. Later in life, he crossed the Sahara Desert several times on an off-road motorcycle.
The band
Since the beginning of Maffay's musical career, Carl Carlton has played guitar in many projects. Likewise, for many years, Bertram Engel (drums), Ken Taylor (bass) and Jean-Jacques Kravetz (piano) have worked with Maffay as well. Some time later, Jean-Jaques Kravetz brought his son Pascal Kravetz (guitar) with him into the fold. In 2004, Frank Dietz, Andreas Becker, some of Maffay's friends from the band left to pursue other projects. The newest addition to the band is the Hamburg guitarist, Peter Keller.
Discography
- 1970: Für das Mädchen, das ich liebe (CD / LP) (For the Girl that I Love)
- 1971: Du bist wie ein Lied (CD / LP) (You are like a song)
- 1972: Omen (CD / 2LP)
- 1974: Samstagabend in unserer Straße (CD / LP) (Saturday Evening in our Street)
- 1975: Meine Freiheit (CD / LP) (My Freedom)
- 1976: Und es war Sommer (CD / LP) (And it was Summer)
- 1977: Tame & Maffay (CD / LP)
- 1977: Dein Gesicht (CD / LP) (Your face)
- 1978: Live (CD / LP)
- 1979: Steppenwolf (CD / LP)
- 1979: Tame & Maffay 2 (CD / LP)
- 1980: Revanche (CD /LP) (Revenge)
- 1982: Ich will Leben (CD / LP) (I want to live)
- 1982: Live '82 (CD / LP / VHS)
- 1983: Tabaluga und die Reise zur Vernunft (CD / LP) (Tabaluga & the Journey to Reason)
- 1984: Carambolage (CD / LP)
- 1984: Deutschland '84 (DVD / VHS)
- 1985: Sonne in der Nacht (CD / LP / DVD / VHS) (Sun in the Night)
- 1986: Tabaluga und das leuchtende Schweigen (CD / LP) (Tabaluga and the Luminous Silence)
- 1987: Live '87 (DVD / VHS)
- 1988: Lange Schatten (2CD / 2LP) (Long Shadows)
- 1988: Lange Schatten Tour '88 (CD / LP / VHS) (Long Shadow Tour 1988)
- 1989: Kein Weg zu Weit (CD / LP / DVD / VHS) (No Way to Far)
- 1989: Die Story 2 (CD)
- 1990: Leipzig (CD / LP / VHS)
- 1991: 38317 (CD / LP)
- 1991: 38317 — Das Clubconcert (DVD / VHS)
- 1992: Freunde und Propheten (CD) (Friends and Prophets)
- 1993: Der Weg 1979–93 (CD / VHS) (The Way 1979 to 1993)
- 1993: Tabaluga und Lilli (CD) (Tabaluga and Lilli)
- 1994: Tabaluga und Lilli Live (2CD / VHS) (Tabaluga and Lilli Live)
- 1996: Sechsundneunzig (CD) (Ninety-Six)
- 1996: Sechsundneunzig — Das Clubconcert (DVD / VHS) (Ninety Six — Club Concert)
- 1997: 96 Live (2CD / DVD / VHS)
- 1998: Begegnungen (CD / DVD / VHS)
- 1999: Begegnungen Live (2CD)
- 2000: X (CD)
- 2001: Heute vor dreissig Jahren (CD) (Thirty Years ago)
- 2001: Heute vor dreissig Jahren — Live (DVD) (Thirty Years ago — Live)
- 2002: Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück (CD) (Gift of Luck)
- 2004: Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück — Live (DVD) (Gift of Luck)
- 2005: Laut und Leise (2CD / 2DualDisc) (Loud and Quiet)
- 2006: Begegnungen, eine Allianz fuer Kinder (CD / DVD) (Encounters, an Alliance for Children)PR:M.Y
- 2007: Frohe Weihnachten mit Tabaluga (CD) (Merry Christmas with Tabaluga)
- 2008: Ewig (CD / DVD) (Forever)
