Gunter Gabriel (* 11 June 1942 in Bünde/Westphalia; † 22 June 2017 in Hanover) was a country and pop singer, composer, songwriter, producer, dubbing artist and television presenter. Born Günter Caspelherr, he was particularly successful in the field of pop music with a country twist in the 1970s. In December 1973, he landed his first hit with the single "Er ist ein Kerl (der 30 Tonner Diesel)". The song reaches number 16 and stays in the German charts for 18 weeks. Gunter Gabriel paves the way for German country artists such as Truck Stop, Tom Astor and Linda Feller with his truck driver music. His second single becomes his biggest hit in April 1974. "Hey Boss, I need more money" becomes a number 1 hit in Austria. In Germany, the single also reached the top 10 at number 6. The artist also made it into the German charts with the album Das ist meine Art (1974) at number 26. Also in 1974, Gunter Gabriel achieved another hit with "Hey, Yvonne (Warum weint die Mammi)". The song reached number 5 in Germany and Austria. He achieved one last top 10 hit in 1975 with the single "Komm' unter meine Decke". The song reached number 7 in the German charts. During this time, Gunter Gabriel also celebrated top 10 successes as a writer for other artists. The artist is involved in songs by Frank Zander, such as "Ich trink' auf dein Wohl, Marie" (1974) and "Der Ur-Ur-Enkel von Frankenstein" (1975), or appears as a writer for Juliane Werding on the song "Wenn du denkst, du denkst, dann denkst du nur, du denkst". His own successes as a solo artist became less frequent. Gunter Gabriel slowly disappeared from the TV public eye from the 1980s onwards. In 1993, the artist was inducted into the "Country Music Hall of Fame". Throughout his life, Gunter Gabriel worshipped the music of Johnny Cash. In 2003, he recorded the album Gabriel sings Cash - The Tennessee Project in his idol's studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The album is produced by John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash's son. With Sohn aus dem Volk - German Recordings (2009) and Gabriel singt Cash (2011), Gunter Gabriel released two more Johnny Cash tribute albums. After that, the artist increasingly takes his leave of the show stage. Gunter Gabriel passed away on June 22, 2017.
