Peter Alexander Makkay, better known as Peter Maffay, is a Romanian-born Germanmusician.
Biography
Born in Braşov, Romania, the son of a German, he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes. After completing his education and working for Chemigraphics, an art manufacturer, Maffay worked in clubs, where he distributed his music. Maffay's career started with the publication of his first single, "Du". It was his biggest German hit in 1970 and brought him instant fame. With the 1979 album Steppenwolf in 1979, he became a major music star in Germany. The album sold 1.6 million copies, making it one of the best selling LPs at that time. In 1980, the albumRevanche broke his previous record, selling more than 2.1 million copies. Together with German Singer-Songwriter Johnny Tame he formed a successful Country Rock Duo in 1976 called Tame & Maffay, They released two albums and continued a close cooperation until 1985. Maffay holds the German record for the most number one ranked album sales charts, including 16 albums. In addition, each of his studio albums since 1979 reached the top ten. He also holds the German record for most albums to have sold over one million copies, with 14. His 2005 album, Laut und Leise, became the fourteenth.
The 1980s
Altogether, Maffay has sold over 40 million records, which makes him one of the top selling artists in Germany. Since 1980, each of his 13 tours has ranked among the third most visited musical events in Germany, with nine of them ranked first in that category. The first leg of his 2015 Tour sold out nearly a year in advance. Maffay also created a string of fairy tales about a little green dragon named Tabaluga. The tales, which spanned across five albums, were also turned into a musical. Maffay went on tour individually with Tabaluga & Lilli in Germany; he later released a live album, DVD, and live TV broadcast. The tour included Peter Maffay, Alexis, Nino de Angelo, Rufus Beck, and Carl Carlton, among others. In 1998, Maffay created an album in collaboration with global artists, including Aboriginal singers and musicians from Israel, called "Begegnungen". Julia Neigel, another famous German artist, is one of the musicians he usually works with in lyrics and singing in duets. She wrote two of his top singles – "Freiheit die ich meine" and "Siehst Du die Sonne", a cover of Michel Polnareff's "La poupeé qui fait non". He also starred in two movies directed by Peter Patzak: Lethal Obsession in 1987, and Gefangen im Jemen in 1999, for which Tony Carey provided the soundtrack. In addition, Maffay played a supporting role in the feature The Polar Bear. On 12 March 2011, Maffay received the Steiger Award.
Personal life
Peter Maffay is active in politics and sometimes inserts his own political stances into his music. He is a peace activist, and in 2005 he performed a concert for German ISAF troops in Afghanistan. Maffay also donates to projects for traumatised and abused children. On the Spanish island of Majorca, he established a ranch where traumatised children from all over the world can have a free two-week holiday to help them cope with their problems. For his social commitment, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 1996, and, in 2001, he received an award called "Goldene Henne". He has been awarded the Toleranzpreis der Evangelischen Akademie Tutzing in 2012. Peter Maffay has been married four times, has a son and lives with his family on a farm on Majorca. One of his hobbies is motorcycle riding. In 1972, Maffay was severely injured in an accident after crashing his Harley Davidson. Later in life, he crossed the Sahara Desert several times on an off-road motorcycle.
The band
has played guitar in many projects. Likewise, for many years, :de:Bertram Engel|Bertram Engel, Ken Taylor, and Jean-Jacques Kravetz have worked together with Maffay. Some time later, Jean-Jaques Kravetz brought his son :de:Pascal Kravetz|Pascal Kravetz with him into the fold. :de:Frank Diez|Frank Diez, member of "Peter Maffay Band" since 1974 and a remarkable pillar and sideman, left the group in 2004. So did Andreas Becker and some other members Maffay's band, in order to pursue other projects. He worked together with John Mayall and Chris Thompson. The American keyboard player Tony Carey, who produced many of his records, also took part in his live band for many years. The newest addition to the band is guitarist Peter Keller, from Hamburg.
