Udo Lindenberg

Biography

Udo Gerhard Lindenberg is a German rock musician, writer, and painter. After beginning his career as a drummer in the late 1960s with bands and musicians such as the City Preachers and Peter Herbolzheimer, he increasingly focused on singing and writing his own songs starting in the early 1970s. As one of the first rock musicians to present lyrics in German, he helped pave the way for the breakthrough of German-language rock music. Since then, Lindenberg has continuously evolved into a leading and defining figure in the German music scene, and his recordings have frequently achieved gold status. With his 34th studio album, Stark wie Zwei (Strong as Two), he topped the German charts for the first time in his career in 2008, at the age of 62. In the 1980s, alongside his musical endeavors, Lindenberg increasingly dedicated himself to the subject of inner-German relations. Despite his considerable efforts, however, he was denied the opportunity to perform in the GDR with his band, the Panikorchester—with the exception of a heavily monitored performance held in 1983 before a hand-picked FDJ audience at the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin. A tour that had already been scheduled for 1984 was subsequently cancelled by the GDR leadership. Later, a high-profile exchange of gifts took place: in 1987, Lindenberg presented Erich Honecker with a leather jacket, received a Schalmei (shawm) in return, and finally gifted Honecker an electric guitar on the occasion of the latter's first visit to the Federal Republic of Germany. Since the 1990s, Lindenberg has also gained recognition as a painter. His first exhibition in 1996 was followed by numerous others—including the 2005 exhibition Keine Panik. Udo Lindenbergs bunte Republik (No Panic: Udo Lindenberg’s Colorful Republic) at the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) in Bonn. His works have garnered increasing attention and are now held in various collections, including that of the German Federal Chancellery. In 2010, the Federal Ministry of Finance issued two special postage stamps designed by the Ministry itself. Udo Lindenberg has received numerous awards for his body of work. He has lived primarily in Hamburg since 1968. Since July 2016, he has been an honorary citizen of his birthplace, Gronau (Westphalia).