MUSICIAN

James Last

1929 - 2015

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James Last (German pronunciation: [tʃeɪms last], [dʃeɪms lɑːst]; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom, with 65 of his albums reaching the charts in the UK alone. His composition "Happy Heart" became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark. Last is reported to have sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide in his lifetime of which 80 million were sold by 1973 and won numerous awards including 200 gold and 14 platinum discs in Germany, the International MIDEM Prize at MIDEM in 1969, and West Germany's highest civilian award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. James Last is the 165th most popular musician (down from 154th in 2019), the 808th most popular biography from Germany (down from 772nd in 2019) and the 8th most popular German Musician.

James Last was a German pianist and composer who was most famous for his easy listening piano music.

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Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, James Last ranks 165 out of 3,175Before him are Fernando Sor, Franz Berwald, A. R. Rahman, Ritchie Valens, Steve Howe, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. After him are Charley Patton, Joseph Joachim, Pete Best, Lenny Kravitz, Ravi Shankar, and Duff McKagan.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1929, James Last ranks 58Before him are Christa Wolf, Nureddin al-Atassi, Ivar Giaever, Milorad Pavić, Bruno Cremer, and John Cassavetes. After him are Jean Simmons, Bill Evans, Zoltán Czibor, Günter Schabowski, Gudrun Burwitz, and Gerald Edelman. Among people deceased in 2015, James Last ranks 44Before him are Eduardo Galeano, Alcides Ghiggia, Wes Craven, Benedict Anderson, Douglass North, and Fatema Mernissi. After him are Colleen McCullough, René Girard, Günter Schabowski, Yitzhak Navon, Yevgeny Primakov, and Boris Nemtsov.

Others Born in 1929

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, James Last ranks 808 out of 7,253Before him are Georg Ernst Stahl (1659), Wilhelm Cuno (1876), Princess Louise of Prussia (1838), David Strauss (1808), Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840), and Otto I, Duke of Bavaria (1120). After him are Rudolf Otto (1869), Georg Jellinek (1851), Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony (1722), Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1700), Peter Kürten (1883), and Hugo Sperrle (1885).

Among MUSICIANS In Germany

Among musicians born in Germany, James Last ranks 8Before him are Leopold Mozart (1719), Till Lindemann (1963), Hans von Bülow (1830), Frank Farian (1941), Rudolf Schenker (1948), and Carlos Kleiber (1930). After him are Wilhelm Kempff (1895), Klaus Nomi (1944), André Previn (1929), Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1784), Florian Schneider (1947), and Michael Schenker (1955).