Profile of Karel Gott on Famous Like Me

Karel Gott (born July 14, 1939) is one of the most successful and widely-known Czech singers (crooners).

Born in Western Bohemian town Plzeň, Gott initially was trained to be mechanic; at the same time, he performed as an amateur singer in various Prague pubs of the late 1950s. In 1960, he started to study singing at the Prague conservatoire, his first short record Měsíční řeka (a Czech version of Henry Mancini's "Moon River") being issued in 1962. Since 1963 Gott had swiftly occupied the leading position on the Czechoslovak pop scene, while his first international successes followed his five months stay in Las Vegas. In 1969, Gott won the music festival in Rio de Janeiro with composer Karel Svoboda's hit Lady Carneval. Between 1965, when his first LP Zpívá Karel Gott ("Karel Gott Singing") was published, and the mid 1990s, 50 LP's of Gott were published by Czech publishing house Supraphon, making him the best selling performer in the Czech music business. At the same time, more than 80 records were published abroad, most of them on the Polydor label. In the late 1960s, Gott started his career in German-speaking countries as well; today, he is most remembered in Germany for his interpretation of the title song of Maya the Bee.

Karel Gott managed to keep his popularity among Czech public for several decades and as of 2005 he is still singing.

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