Everyone can at least hum along to his biggest hit: in 1971 pop singer Tony Marshall became known throughout Germany with the song “Schöne Maid”. Many more hits followed. Now the musician has died at the age of 85.
Pop singer Tony Marshall is dead. The 85-year-old died on Thursday evening with his family, a spokeswoman said. He became famous in 1971 with the song “Beautiful Maid”, after which, for example, “Today we’ll hit the drum”, “Boy, the world is beautiful”, “Bora Bora” or “On the road to the south” were commercially successful . Marshall released around 120 singles, he moderated around 40 TV shows and made thousands of appearances. His recordings have sold millions.
For his fans, Marshall was an entertainer all his life and mainly booked hits. The Baden-Baden native had a state exam as an opera singer, was able to play four other instruments in addition to the piano and violin, and sang in eight languages. After his classical training at the Karlsruhe Music Academy, among others, he first opened a pub – until the “beautiful maiden” came and suddenly made him a cult star.
As the nation’s feel-good singer, Marshall shaped the hit world, filled halls and sometimes sang on smaller stages. Privately he was a family man: the father of three children, grandpa and great-grandpa had been married to his childhood sweetheart Gaby for decades. His sons Pascal and Marc accompanied their father on tours. With his daughter Stella, Marshall was involved in his foundation for people with disabilities.
Marshall himself became more and more concerned with health over the years. He had a pacemaker and was living with the nervous condition polyneuropathy, which restricted his urge to move. At the beginning of 2019, shortly before his birthday, he had to be hospitalized temporarily. He later survived a corona infection, for which he had to go to a clinic as a high-risk patient, and underwent emergency surgery in May 2022. He also had to cancel concerts and performances for health reasons.
He appeared in public less and less, even if the media was very interested in his state of health – which Marshall found quite stressful. In 2021, however, he opened a personal gallery with photos, trophies, medals, gold records and other mementos in Gaggenau, Baden. Two weeks ago – on February 3rd – he was able to celebrate his 85th birthday.
