Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
For the town in the Netherlands see Heino, Netherlands.Heino (born 13 December 1938, Düsseldorf as Heinz Georg Kramm) is a German singer of popular music (Schlager) and traditional Volksmusik.
Known for his bass voice, blond hair, and ever-present sunglasses (due to exophthalmos), Heino resides in the small town of Bad Münstereifel where he owns a cafe, and plays his own music in the background. His interest in music started when his mother gave him an accordion in 1948, although his family couldn't actually afford it.
Life
Heino was born 13 December 1938 in Düsseldorf-Oberbilk, Germany to Henry and Francisca Kramm. His father was a Catholic dentist, his mother a Protestant. His grandfather was the organist at the Cathedral of Cologne. He also had two cousins who were Catholic priests. Heino's father died 2 August 1941 during the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Until 1945 Heino lived with his mother and his older sister Hannelore in Pomerania. His stage name comes from his sister Hannalore's difficulty pronouncing his given name "Heinz Georg". In 1945 he began school in Großenhain (Saxony). After 1952 he was in Düsseldorf where he initially trained as a baker and confectioner.
In June 1959 he married 18-year-old Henrietta Heppner. They had one son, Uwe, born in 1962 before subsequently divorcing. He married his second wife Lilo in 1965; their marriage ended in divorce in 1978. Lilo Kramm died of cancer on January 28, 2010.
In 1968 he became the father of an illegitimate daughter with his childhood sweetheart. The mother died in 1988, and the daughter in late November 2003, both by suicide.
He met his third wife Hannelore Auersperg in 1972 at the Miss Austria contest in Kitzbühel. They were married in April 1979, and she became his manager. The couple lives in Bad Münstereifel. In 2004, Hannelore had a heart attack, which was one reason Heino curtailed his career.
Heino suffers from exophthalmos due to Graves' disease. For this reason, he always wears very dark glasses in public, which have become his trademark. Due to his light hair and skin, some have believed he wore the glasses due to albinism, but this was not true.
Music
In 1961 he first appeared on the trio OK Singers.
Most of his recordings were pop versions of traditional folk songs; for example, "How Blue Blooms the Gentian" (Blau Blüht Der Enzian), an adaptation of the folk song "The Swiss Maiden" (Das Schweizermaedel).
Other
Heino is a patron of a cafe in the Phantasialand theme park that bears the name "Heino coffee", and since January 2010, an official sponsor of the Bethel Children's Hospice for dying children.