Camillo Felgen

Biography

Camillo Felgen was a Luxembourgish singer, lyricist, disc jockey, and television presenter. Felgen started his career as a teacher. During the Second World War, Felgen was a translator for the German occupiers, and then a reporter with a French-language newspaper. He studied theater and opera in Brussels and Liège; in 1946, he joined Radio Luxembourg as a chorus singer and a French-language reporter. In 1949, the mastering of his baritone completed his theatre and opera studies. In 1951, he had his first international hit record, “Bonjour les amies” In 1953, he recorded his first German-language record, “Onkel Toms altes Boot” He represented his home country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 and 1962. One of the greatest hits of Felgen was “Ich hab Ehrfurcht vor schneeweißen Haaren”. Camillo Felgen also wrote German lyrics for cover versions of international songs, using the pseudonym Jean Nicolas (writing for Connie Francis, Caterina Valente, Greetje Kauffeld  and Lill-Babs, among others).  As Jean Nicolas, Felgen also translated the only two songs recorded by The Beatles in German, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You”, in 1964. Felgen, then working as a programme director at Radio Luxembourg, was given just 24 hours to finalize the translated lyrics, fly to Paris, and coach the band on German phonetics.

Camillo Felgen died on July 16, 2005, aged 84.