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Music

German singer Knut Kiesewetter dies at 75

December 29, 2016

Esteemed musician Knut Kiesewetter, who once played alongside The Beatles, has died at the age of 75. He was famous for his songs in the Low German dialect.

https://p.dw.com/p/2Uz0I
Knut Kiesewetter
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Pfeiffer

German singer-songwriter Knut Kiesewetter was a multi-instrumentalist who transcended genres across his long career, producing rock, soul, jazz, blues and gospel recordings. 

He first performed on stage at the age of 15. By 18 he had started playing at Hamburg's Indra Club, appearing alongside The Beatles who had a residency there in 1960 while they were still relative unknowns.

Singer songwriter Knut Kiesewtter with a brass instrument
Kiesewetter music spanned multiple genresImage: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Runge

Kiesewetter wrote some 800 songs through his varied career and was dubbed the "record millionaire." He became particularly popular in the 1970s for singing in Low German, a West Germanic dialect closely related to Dutch Frisian, and English that is spoken in northern Germany and eastern Netherlands.

He was one of just a handful of German singers who appeared on the "Star Club Records" label.

Kiesewetter began producing records working with musicians such as Hannes Wader, Volker Lechtenbrink and Fiede Kay.

He later started a career in television and taught at the Hochschule für Theater, Musik und Medien in Hamburg.

His pastor, Ralf-Thomas Knippenberg, confirmed reports of his death on Wednesday.

aw/cmk (dpa)