Gerhard "Gerry" Friedle (born 7 January 1971), better known by his stage name DJ Ötzi (pronounced [ˈdiːdʒɛɪ ˈœtsiː]),[1] is an Austrian pop and schlager singer. Successful mainly in German-speaking countries, he is best known in the English-speaking world for his 2000 single "Hey Baby (Uhh, Ahh)", a cover version of the Bruce Channel song "Hey! Baby". His stage name comes from Ötzi the Iceman, the name given to the 5,300-year-old frozen remains of a mummified man discovered in 1991 in South Tyrol's Ötztal Alps.

DJ Ötzi
DJ Ötzi in 2016
DJ Ötzi in 2016
Background information
Birth nameGerhard Friedle
Also known as"DJ Ötzi Junior" “Anton aus Tirol”
Born (1971-01-07) 7 January 1971 (age 53)
St. Johann in Tirol, Austria
GenresPop, schlager, Eurodance
OccupationSinger
Years active1999–present
LabelsEMI
Websitedjoetzi.at

Biography

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Early life

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Ötzi was born Gerhard Friedle in St. Johann, Tirol, the son of Anton Friedle.[1] Shortly after birth, his mother, aged 17 at the time, gave him up for adoption.[1] He was raised by foster parents and later by his paternal grandparents in the nearby village of Erpfendorf in Tirol.[1] At a young age, Ötzi suffered from epilepsy. At age 16, he was homeless and lived on the streets for a short time.[1] His career arose gradually, first working as a student cook, then on being discovered at a karaoke competition, went on to work as an entertainer (animateur), DJ and singer in discothèques around Austria, as well as in tourist destinations Mallorca and Turkey. In 2002, before the birth of his daughter, Ötzi suffered a severe form of conductive hearing loss.[1][2]

Musical career

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Debut album and early success

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In 1999, DJ Ötzi released the single "Anton aus Tirol". The song was a massive hit in German-speaking countries, reaching number one in Austria and Germany, while it peaked at number two in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The song spent 75 weeks in the Austrian charts and was number one for ten weeks. The success of the single propelled the release of the Anton (feat. DJ Ötzi) album Das Album in 2000.

Second album and international recognition

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In July 2000, Ötzi released a cover version of Bruce Channel's 1962 song "Hey Baby". This single reached number-one in several English-speaking countries, including Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. He followed up this release with a cover version of "Do Wah Diddy".

Continued success

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Ötzi in 2014

In 2003, Ötzi released a cover version of "A Ram Sam Sam", called the "Burger Dance", which reached number-one in Germany, number 3 in Austria, and number 7 in Switzerland.

In 2006, he found success with the Volksmusik hit "Sieben Sünden", which became a number 2 hit in Austria.

In 2007, he released "Ein Stern (...der deinen Namen trägt)" with Austrian Schlager singer Nik P. It reached number one in (Germany) where it stayed for 13 weeks and Austria, number 2 in Switzerland, and number 5 in the European Union, despite the fact that at the time of its release, some of the most popular radio stations in Austria and Germany declined to play the song because its genre did not fit their programme style. The single has sold more than 2 million copies.[3] Spending 106 weeks on the German Singles Chart, it is the first song to be on that chart for two years or longer, and the longest running song ever on that chart.[4]

Discography

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Albums

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Year Album Peak chart positions
AUT
[5]
AUS
[6]
DEN
[7]
GER
[8]
NOR
[9]
SWE
[10]
SWI
[11]
UK
[12]
2000 Das Album (Anton feat. DJ Ötzi) 1 3 7 5
2001 Love, Peace & Vollgas 2 23 23
Never Stop the Alpenpop / Never Stop...[13] 19 20 15 92
2002 Today Is the Day 3 49
2003 Flying to the Sky 72 50
Greatest Partyhits 5 92
2004 Ich war immer der Clown 49
2006 I Am the Musicman (DJ Ötzi Junior)
2007 Sternstunden 2 7 16
DJ Ötzi: The Best 2 17 3
2008 Hotel Engel 1 26 5
2010 Du und ich 7 45 30
2011 Der DJ aus den Bergen 35 34
2012 Simply the Best
(with The Bellamy Brothers)
3 31 38 31
2013 Es ist Zeit 2 7 5
2017 Von Herzen 6 11 18
2019 20 Jahre DJ Ötzi – Party ohne Ende 2 3 4
2021 Sei du selbst – Party 2.0 2 8 15
2022 Weihnachts-Memories 11 30 78

Singles

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Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Album
AUT
[14]
AUS
[15][16]
DEN
[17]
FRA
[18]
GER
[19]
IRE
[20]
NL
[21]
SWE
[22]
SWI
[23]
UK
[12]
1999 "Anton aus Tirol" (as Anton featuring DJ Ötzi) 1 1 2 2 Das Album
2000 "Gemma Bier trinken" (as Anton featuring DJ Ötzi) 12 15 55 37
"Hey Baby (Uhh, Aah)" 4 1 2 1 11 1 65 3 1 Love, Peace & Vollgas
2001 "Do Wah Diddy" 9 29 14 75 9
"Love, Peace & Vollgas" 43 82
"X-Mas Time" 7 54 51 Singles only
"Hey Baby" (unofficial World Cup remix) 10
2002 "Don't Ha Ha" (featuring Captain Jack) 15 59 Love, Peace & Vollgas
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (feat. Hermes House Band) 16 28 11 2 15 30 61 46 26 50 Today Is the Day
"Today Is the Day" 19 39
2003 "Ramalamadingdong" 37 Flying to the Sky
"Burger Dance" 3 1 7
2004 "Not Without Us" 10 20 97 Singles only
"Tanz den Rehakles" 43 37
"Känguru Dance" 15 19
2005 "Servus die Wadln / La Ola Walzer" 27 40
2006 "7 Sünden" (featuring Marc Pircher) 2 30 79
"I Am the Musicman" (as DJ Ötzi Junior) 12 24 The Musicman
2007 "Ein Stern (...der deinen Namen trägt)" (featuring Nik P.) 1 1 2
  • IFPI AUT: 2× Platinum[24]
  • BVMI: 4× Platinum[25]
  • IFPI SWI: Gold[27]
Sternstunden
"I will leb'n" 6 7 44
2008 "Noch in 100.000 Jahren" 4 10 49 Hotel Engel
2009 "Tränen" (with Kate Hall) 12 24
2010 "Fang das Licht" (with Karel Gott) 31 57 Single only
"Ich will mit dir fliegen" 49 43 Du und Ich
2011 "Lieb ich dich" 79
"I sing a Liad für dich" 27 35 Der DJ aus den Bergen
"Ring the Bell" 35 48
2012 "Du bist es" 38 36 Es ist Zeit
2013 "Wie ein Komet" 21 33
"Tirol" 27
2016 "Geboren um dich zu lieben" (featuring Nik P.) 6 11 29 Von Herzen
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Das zweite Gesicht des DJ Ötzi" [The second face of DJ Ötzi]. DIE WELT, WELT am SONNTAG (in German). Berlin: Axel Springer SE. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  2. ^ "DJ Ötzi erlitt schweren Hörsturz" [DJ Ötzi suffers severe loss of hearing]. derStandard.at (in German). Vienna: STANDARD Medien AG. 14 September 2002. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  3. ^ Sternregister
  4. ^ Chartsurfer.de. "Dauerbrenner Top 100 Auswertung (ab Monat 06/1959)". Chartsurfer.de. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  5. ^ [1] DJ Ötzi in the Austrian albums chart
  6. ^ [2] DJ Ötzi in the Australian albums chart
  7. ^ [3] DJ Ötzi in the Danish albums chart
  8. ^ "Discographie DJ Ötzi". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. ^ [4] DJ Ötzi in the Norwegian albums chart
  10. ^ [5] DJ Ötzi in the Swedish albums chart
  11. ^ [6] DJ Ötzi in the Swiss albums chart
  12. ^ a b "DJ Otzi | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Never Stop: DJ Otzi: Amazon.ca: Music". Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  14. ^ [7] DJ Ötzi in the Austrian singles chart
  15. ^ [8] DJ Ötzi in the Australian singles chart
  16. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 85.
  17. ^ [9] DJ Ötzi in the Danish singles chart
  18. ^ "Charts-Surfer: Suchergebnis". Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2008. DJ Ötzi in the French singles chart (search, incomplete)
  19. ^ "Charts-Surfer: Suchergebnis". Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2008. DJ Ötzi in the German singles chart (search)
  20. ^ Search for Irish peaks Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ [10] DJ Ötzi in the Dutch singles chart
  22. ^ [11] DJ ötzi in the Swedish singles chart
  23. ^ [12] DJ Ötzi in the Swiss singles chart
  24. ^ a b c d "Gold & Platin". IFPI (Austria). Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  25. ^ a b c d "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (DJ Ötzi)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  26. ^ "Certified Awards Search: DJ Otzi". BPI. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  27. ^ "AWARDS 2007". IFPI (Switzerland). Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
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