Biography
Freddy Quinn grew up partly in Vienna, but also partly in West Virginia, United States. In 1954 he was discovered in Hamburg. Two years later he took part in the Eurovision Song Contest with “So geht das jeden Nacht”. In the same year Freddy had his first hit “Heimweh”. It marked his breakthrough, not only in German-speaking countries, but also in the Netherlands and Belgium, for example. In the time between 1956 and 1966, Freddy had many number 1 hits in Germany. Some of his big hits were “Die Gitarre und das Meer”, “Unter fremden Sternen”, “Irgendwann gibt’s ein wiederseh’n”, “La Paloma”, “Junge komm bald wieder” and “Vergangen, vergessen, vorüber”.
In addition to singing, he also played in a number of films. Just like in his songs, he was all too often a lonely sailor here. The biggest successes were “Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer”, “Freddy unter fremden Sternen”, “Freddy und das lied der Südsee” and “Heimweh nach St. Pauli”. He also played various roles on stage. He also performed in circus as a cord dancer, with and without a safety net (!!). In a tv show he even acted as a lion tamer.
Quinn’s popularity declined in the 1970s, but he continued to perform, including at the schlager festivals in Kerkrade. In the 1980s and 1990s he played in various series on German television. The last one in 2004, when he played a role in one of the episodes of the series “In aller Freundschaft”.
Quinn also came under scrutiny in that year for alleged tax evasion. Although he mainly stayed in Hamburg, he declared Switzerland as the main residence and would have evaded up to € 90,000 in tax. He was sentenced to a 2-year prison sentence and a fine of € 150,000.
Freddy Quinn currently still lives in Hamburg.
