Heino

Heino was born Heinrich Georg Kern in 1938. He started out singing in hotels around Düsseldorf before his recording career took off.

He recorded dozens of albums over the decades, mixing folk standards with pop material. Songs like 'Treue Bergvagabunden' and 'Karamba, Karacho ein Whisky' were typical of his approach, straightforward, melodic treatments of traditional themes. He usually performed with a backing group called the Heino-Band.

For years, critics questioned whether his music encouraged nostalgia for Germany's troubled past. Heino kept performing through it all, his baritone voice remaining instantly recognizable on radio and television. The arguments about what his songs meant never really stopped, even as his commercial popularity faded.