It has been reported this afternoon that Udo Jürgens the winner of the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest has passed away at the age of 80. The singer who was known across Europe for winning the 1966 contest also participated in 1964 and 1965.
Udo died on a walk in Switzerland this afternoon after collapsing in a park in Thurgau, he was immediately taken to the Münsterlingen Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 16:25 CET.
Earlier in the year Udo’s 80th birthday was celebrated with a television show which saw performances from a number of international music stars including Helene Fischer. Furthermore he had only recently released a new album called “Mitten im Leben”. His career was vast with him writing over 1,000 songs and selling over 100 million records.
He had been due to go continue tour in 2015 with a further 23 dates across Germany and Austria, Udo Jürgens Manager Freddy Burger, Pepe Lienhard told Die Welt that:
We’re shocked and filled with grief
Conchita Wurst who won Eurovision 2014 becoming only the second artist after Udo to win Eurovision tweeted:
Udo, ich bin zutiefst betroffen dass du heute von uns gegangen bist. Du warst ein großartiger Künstler – Merci! Conchita
Udo, I am deeply affected now that you are gone. You were a great artist – Merci! Conchita
You can see Udo’s winning Eurovision 1966 performance of “Merci Cherie” below:
🙁