Karel Gott: biography, success story, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Karel Gott is the most famous singer in Czech show business. His creative stage experience is huge. For forty years Karel has been called "the king of Czech pop music" and "the golden Czech nightingale". Among his fans are several generations of listeners. During his creative life, Karel Gott recorded 180 singles, 150 albums. 30 million records of this wonderful artist have been sold. The biography of Karel Gott is the story of a minion of fate.

Childhood

Karel was born on July 14, 1939 in Pilsen. He was the long-awaited only child in the family. When the war started, a shell destroyed their house. Therefore, the family was forced to move to their grandmother in the village.

Even as a child, Karel became interested in painting. The young man dreamed of a career as an artist. He painted a lot. Therefore, having received a secondary education in 1954, Karel decided to enter an art school. However, he did not qualify there. I had to enter a vocational school, after which the young man received the speci alty of a tram electrician. Having started working at the factory, he sang in the evenings in cafes and clubs. Participated in an amateur competitionsingers and having received the first prize on it, Karel Gott decides to take up professional vocals. He entered the Prague Conservatory at the Faculty of Opera Singing.

Climbing the musical Olympus

Real success began to come to the singer in the sixties, after the twist began to gain popularity in Czechoslovakia. In 1962 he was invited to work in the famous Prague theater "Semaphore". And starting from this year, he began to climb the musical Olympus: first, the victory of the duet, in which he was one of the performers, then in the Czech hit parade, later - his solo performance and victory in the prestigious national singing competition "Golden Nightingale".

In 1965, Karel leaves Semaphore. He decides to create his own theater "Apollo", in which he becomes the main performer. This theater successfully existed until 1967. After its closing, the singer went on tour to America. There he learned a lot, gained professionalism and, upon returning to his native Czechoslovakia, determined the musical direction in which he wanted to work. First of all, a bet was made on pop music. He preferred this direction in order to cover the largest number of listeners with his work and be in demand not only in his native Czechoslovakia, but also far beyond its borders. And Karel did not lose. Popular songs, as well as an unusual voice became the key to success.

On top of success

Karel released his first disc, which immediately became "gold". The singer quickly took one of the leading positions in music ratings. Europe. He was called "the golden voice from Prague". In 1968, Karel Gott represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest. Taking thirteenth place, he added popularity in his homeland.

For twenty years (until 1990) the singer has been working with the Ladislav Steidl Orchestra. Later he created his own group of musicians "Karel Gott Band".

The hero of our material starred in thirteen feature and documentary films. In addition, he voiced several films and cartoons.

Karel Gott is a favorite of the Soviet public

Since the sixties of the twentieth century, the singer often visits the Soviet Union on tour. His performances are held not only in Moscow. He gladly tours the most distant regions of the country. For the Soviet public, the singer performs romances and songs in Russian, which he speaks without an accent.

His concerts gather a huge number of enthusiastic listeners. In 1987 he came to Moscow at the invitation of the Gorbachevs, admirers of his talent. At the television festival "Song of the Year" the singer sang the song "Father's House" in a duet with Sofia Rotaru.

Soviet children loved the film, which was voiced by Karel Gott - "Three Nuts for Cinderella".

With great pleasure they watched the cartoon "The Adventures of Maya the Bee", where the voice of the famous Czech singer also sounded.

In June 2011, Karel again visited Moscow, where his solo concert took place.

The next time the singer appeared in Russia was in 2013. Karel performed on Channel One for the New Year'stransmission.

Private life

Throughout his life, the singer enjoyed great success with the opposite sex. The personal life of Karel Gott was quite eventful. However, for a long time he did not tie the knot, remaining a bachelor, which many women dreamed of. He has two illegitimate daughters.

But recently the singer surprised his fans - he finally got married. His chosen one, Ivan Makhachkova, is 38 years younger than her husband. Before marriage, between 2006 and 2008, they had two daughters. Now a young happy family lives in Prague.

Not so long ago, the singer survived a serious illness. In 2015, doctors discovered he had cancer of the lymph nodes. But Karel took this diagnosis not as a sentence, but as a life test. For two years he underwent treatment, chemotherapy courses, and the terrible disease receded. Today he is full of vitality and creative plans.