Pierre Kartner is dead. The controversial singer passed away at the age of 87. Kartner became world-famous as Vader Abraham at the end of the 1970s with the "Song of the Smurfs".
The Dutch singer Pierre Kartner has died at the age of 87, as the newspaper "Bild" has just reported.
Pierre Kartner, better known as Vader Abraham, led a reclusive life over the past two years. He no longer performed or appeared in public.
Kartner was best known to the public for his "Song of the Smurfs". Before that, he had to wait quite a long time before he achieved commercial success as a singer.
Pierre Kartner wrote Peter Alexander's biggest hit
After his wedding, he ran a snack bar with his wife before starting to work in a confectionery factory.
Later working for a record company, the father of one son had the opportunity to write and sing his own songs. But it was not until he was 40 that he made his breakthrough as a composer.
Pierre Kartner wrote Peter Alexander's biggest hit "Die kleine Kneipe" in 1976. He also helped Nana Mouskouri, Heino and Ireen Sheer to musical success.
In 1978, as mentioned above, he scored his biggest commercial success with "Lied der Schlümpfe", which he sang. It sold more than 25 million records worldwide.
Right-wing populist and inflammatory songs
Behind the benevolent mask of Vader Abraham, however, there was also another, highly controversial side to Kartner: as early as the 1970s, the singer also recorded songs with right-wing populist and inflammatory content.
In 2002, he released a song mocking the then Minister President Wim Kok with the later murdered right-wing extremist politician Pim Fortuyn.
The controversial singer continued to earn money from his songs with the Smurfs throughout his life. The song was in demand all over the world. "I'm still very proud of it today, because it's a real evergreen," the singer said in an interview in 2013.
Pierre Kartner's family has not yet provided any information on the cause of death. According to "BN DeStem", his funeral took place this Friday morning.