FALCO was born in Vienna as Hans Hölzel on February 19th, 1957, the only surviving son of triplets.

Using a droll mixture of German and English lyrics, Falco had several international hits in the '80s. His colourful jackets became a brand name of Falco, although the record companies had chosen a softer marketing strategy. (see picture of Falco pinup photo)

After completing his studies at the Vienna Conservatory, he started on bass in a jazz band in West-Berlin (Germany). He became the "David Bowie" of Vienna at the beginning of the eighties when he mixed the seemingly incompatible thing: broad working-class slang with white keenness of the Anglophile jet set. The attractive young man showed his Sgt. Pepper's circus uniform that was to become his typical sign and characteristic features. His lyrics had a double meaning and were the anthems for a whole drug generation in Vienna and elsewhere in the world.

Berlin bands that inspired him were "Kraftwerk", "Rheingold" and "Can". When he played bass guitar in the punk band "Drahdiwaberl" he composed "Ganz Wien", which later appeared on their record "PSYCHO TERROR" in 1979. The song was banned because it carries the line "...all Vienna is one whole heroin place today". But it started his career. The track became a cult hit in the decadent Vienna society of the late 90s.

"Der Kommissar", earlier "Ganz Wien" and the hymn "Rock Me Amadeus" made him a star on his own, both side of the Atlantic. He liked the idea of changing names when he heard of the GDR ski athlete Falco Weisspflog and change his to Falco.

His solo career began in 1982 with the rap-style European hit "Der Kommisar" and the controversial tale of his girl friend, a former prostitute, "Jeanny". He topped the German charts despite a complete radio ban.

Falco's first impact on the English-speaking world came with "Rock Me Amadeus" (1985). Co-written with Dutch producers Rob and Ferdi Bolland, the song´s mixture of speech and singing made it number 1 in the UK in 1986 at the same time as "FALCO 3" went into the Top 10 in America.

After releasing the rock ballad "Vienna Calling", Falco returned to the Amadeus mode on "The Sound Of Music", which was an attack on Austrian president Kurt Waldheim. Despite his collaboration with model and film star Brigitte Neilson on "Body Next To Body", Falco's later records, such as "Titanic" in 1992 were not successful outside German-speaking territories.

Falco, alias Johann (Hans) Hölzel, died tragedy in a car accident.

Two stage productions with a different approach in Vienna and Berlin were immediately trying to keep the myth alive. But only the Vienna production took his life to the stage. At the renowned Ronacher Theatre the musical "FALCO - a Cybershow" premiered in 2000 with support of Thomas Rabitsch, an original member of the Falco band. He re-arranged some old songs and updated the sometimes dated sound. The production tells the story behind Falco and concentrates on Hans Hoelzel. The excerpt from the show which has been recorded can be found on CD.The production itself starts cyber life on stage and became a cult production, which has been restaged in Vienna.