Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Early life. Born in Braşov (), Romania, the son of a German (Transylvanian Saxon), he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' West Germany in 1963. 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. Maffay's career started with the publication of his first single, "Du" ("You"). It was his biggest German hit  in 1970 and brought him instant fame. With the 1979 album "Steppenwolf", he became a major music star in Germany. The album sold 1.6 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums at that time. In 1980, the album "Revanche" ("Revenge") broke his previous record, selling more than 2.1 million copies. Together with German Singer-Songwriter Johnny Tame he formed a successful country rock duo in 1976 called Tame & Maffay. They released two albums and continued a close cooperation until 1985. Maffay also created a string of fairy tales about a little green dragon named Tabaluga. The tales , which spanned across five albums, were 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 Maffay, Alexis, Nino de Angelo, Rufus Beck, and Carl Carlton, among others. In 1998, Maffay created an album in collaboration with global artists, including Aboriginal singers and musicians from Israel, called "Begegnungen". Julia Neigel, another German artist, is one of the musicians he usually works with in lyrics and singing in duets. She wrote two of his top singles, "Freiheit die ich meine" and "Siehst  du die Sonne", a cover of Michel Polnareff's "La Poupée qui fait non". Maffay also starred in two films directed by Peter Patzak—"Lethal Obsession" in 1987 and "Gefangen im Jemen" in 1999—for which Tony Carey provided the soundtrack. In addition, Maffay played a supporting role in 1998's "The Polar Bear". On 12 March 2011, Maffay received the Steiger Award. Maffay holds the German record for the most number one ranked album sales charts, including 16 albums. In addition, each of his studio albums since 1979 reached the top ten. He also holds the German record for  most albums to have sold over one million copies, with 14. His 2005 album, "Laut und Leise" ("Loud and Quiet"), became the 14th. Altogether, Maffay has sold over 40 million records, which makes him one of the top selling artists in Germany. Since 1980, each of his 13 tours (roughly every two years) has ranked among the third most-visited musical events in Germany, with nine of them ranked first in that category. The first leg of his 2015 tour (19 Arena shows) sold out nearly a year in advance. Peter Maffay Band. Carl Carlton has been a constant member  in Maffay's band. Likewise, for many years, Bertram Engel (drums), Ken Taylor (bass), and Jean-Jacques Kravetz (piano) have worked together with Maffay. Some time later, Kravetz brought his son Pascal Kravetz (guitar) with him into the fold. Frank Diez, member of the Peter Maffay Band since 1974, left the group in 2004. So did Andreas Becker and some other members Maffay's band, in order to pursue other projects. He worked together with John Mayall and Chris Thompson. American keyboard player Tony Carey, who produced many of his records, also took part in his live band for many  years. The newest addition to the band is guitarist Peter Keller, from Hamburg. Personal life. 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 International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops in Afghanistan. Maffay also donates to projects for traumatised and abused children. On the Spanish island of Mallorca, 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 the "", an award commemorating Helga Hahnemann. He has been awarded the "Toleranzpreis der Evangelischen Akademie Tutzing" in 2012. Maffay has been married four times, has a son and lives with his family on a farm on Mallorca. One of his hobbies is motorcycle riding. In 1972, he 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.