Udo Lindenberg

Udo Gerhard Lindenberg is a German rock musician writer and painter After beginning his career as a drummer in the late 1960s with bands and musicians such as the City Preachers and Peter Herbolzheimer he increasingly focused on singing and writing his own songs starting in the early 1970s As one of the first rock musicians to present lyrics in German he helped pave the way for the breakthrough of Germanlanguage rock music Since then Lindenberg has continuously evolved into a leading and defining figure in the German music scene and his recordings have frequently achieved gold status With his 34th studio album Stark wie Zwei Strong as Two he topped the German charts for the first time in his career in 2008 at the age of 62 In the 1980s alongside his musical endeavors Lindenberg increasingly dedicated himself to the subject of innerGerman relations Despite his considerable efforts however he was denied the opportunity to perform in the GDR with his band the Panikorchesterwith the exception of a heavily monitored performance held in 1983 before a handpicked FDJ audience at the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin A tour that had already been scheduled for 1984 was subsequently cancelled by the GDR leadership Later a highprofile exchange of gifts took place in 1987 Lindenberg presented Erich Honecker with a leather jacket received a Schalmei shawm in return and finally gifted Honecker an electric guitar on the occasion of the latters first visit to the Federal Republic of Germany Since the 1990s Lindenberg has also gained recognition as a painter His first exhibition in 1996 was followed by numerous othersincluding the 2005 exhibition Keine Panik Udo Lindenbergs bunte Republik No Panic Udo Lindenbergs Colorful Republic at the Haus der Geschichte House of History in Bonn His works have garnered increasing attention and are now held in various collections including that of the German Federal Chancellery In 2010 the Federal Ministry of Finance issued two special postage stamps designed by the Ministry itself Udo Lindenberg has received numerous awards for his body of work He has lived primarily in Hamburg since 1968 Since July 2016 he has been an honorary citizen of his birthplace Gronau Westphalia