Max Raabe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications.
Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since July 2006.

Max Raabe (December 12, 1962 in Lünen) is a German singer and band leader of the Palast Orchester. He and his orchestra specialise in recreating the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 1930s, especially by performing songs of the Comedian Harmonists.

He founded the Palast Orchester in 1986, while he was studying at the Berlin University of the Arts from 1988 to 1995 as a baritone opera singer. His career and that of the Palast Orchester began with a Schlager hit entitled "Kein Schwein ruft mich an" ("Why does no one call" aka "No pigs call me", 1992), a pop song in 1920s style, and the film Der bewegte Mann (English title: "Maybe, Maybe Not") in 1994.

He writes original music, including film music, and also creates covers of well known modern pop songs in a 1920s-1930s band style, including such songs as Britney Spears's "Oops!... I Did It Again", and Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb".

1999 saw Raabe play the role of "Mack the Knife" in Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera alongside Nina Hagen.

In 2005 he had his first concert in New York City's Carnegie Hall.

He performed at Marilyn Manson's wedding at Gottfried Helnwein's Irish castle on December 3, 2005.