He sang with country star Johnny Cash, received several gold records and was one of the few Germans to play on the Grand Ole Opry, the oldest radio show in the USA. But none of this was planned. Tom Astor’s career began in an inn. One evening he picked up his guitar and sang in front of friends. They advised their talented buddy to take part in a talent competition in Cologne. So one thing led to another.
Astor, who celebrates his 80th birthday on Monday, can look back on more than 700 recordings and 40 albums. The country legend can now also book more than four million records sold. His 60th stage anniversary is also coming up in June.
So there is more than one reason to celebrate. Astor, who has performed in front of more than 70,000 people at festivals at the Nürburgring, doesn’t think much of big parties. “The bigger the party, the less you get from it yourself,” he once told the “Weser-Kurier”. “Then it’s better to have a few beers with a few friends” – or toast with the “family in a small circle”.
Before starting his country career, Astor initially trained as a hotel clerk and graduated from commercial school. But after the Cologne talent competition, he had tasted blood. Before he went to country, however, Astor first started with German Schlager music.
His best-known single from that time was called “Komm, komm, kom, Mädchen meine Hoffnung” – a German version of the Neil Diamond hit “Song Sung Blue”. In 1970 he adopted his stage name.
The Sauerlander was born on February 27, 1943 as Wilhelm Brautigam. “When I got my first record deal, the times and the names of the artists were different,” he told the “Weser-Kurier”. “That’s how I became Tom Astor, it’s now in my passport, that’s how most people know me.”
Gradually, Astor felt his way into the country world. In 1980 he released his first country album “Asphalt Cowboy”. The man with the cowboy hat and boots finally celebrated his breakthrough in 1984 with the song “Hello, good morning Germany”.
He achieved chart success with the singles “Take it easy” and “I’m not a poet, not a poet” from 1991 and with “Junger Adler” from 1993. A year later he won the Golden Tuning Fork and the ZDF hit parade.
Astor has long been considered a bridge builder between Germany and the USA. Several times a year he recorded his songs in recording studios in Nashville, Tennessee, the world capital of country music. He also managed what only a few Europeans managed – an appearance on the live radio show and thus on the most important country stage in the country, the Grand Ole Opry.
Meanwhile, he has been collaborating with the top stars of the genre. Astor looks back on joint recordings with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash, with whom he recorded the duet “I Will Rock and Roll with You”.
Even though things have calmed down around the country star in the meantime, Astor is still on stage today. Some performances have been announced for 2023 – especially in Thuringia.
The Sauerland has remained true to his birthplace Schmallenberg, where he also has his studio. He has two children with his wife of many years, who also took over her husband’s management. In 2016 he founded the Tom Astor Music School with his daughter. The musical legacy in Schmallenberg should live on for a long time to come.
