German singer Heino pushes back against the far-right AfD

Heino is a veteran German music figure with over 55 million records and CDs sold and more than 1,200 recorded songs. His style includes a deep voice, German-language folk songs about love and homeland, and a distinctive blond sidepart and black sunglasses used to conceal an eye condition. His hits continue to resonate with younger listeners, and he has performed at heavy metal festivals. His career has also drawn criticism, including reactions to his real name and to song choices. In 2018, an album presented to a homeland affairs minister included songs previously sung by the SS, leading to media uproar. He defended himself by arguing that songs cannot be blamed for later instrumentalization.

"Heino is more than just a "Schlager" (German folk pop) star in Germany: with more than 55 million records and CDs sold and 1,200 songs recorded, the 87yearold is a veteran and an icon of the German music industry. His hits still resonate with young people today. He has even sung at heavy metal festivals."

"His trademarks are his immaculate blond sidepart and his black sunglasses (worn, incidentally, to disguise an eye condition called exophthalmos). But above all, it is his music: German language folk songs about love, homeland and an idealized German world sung in a deep voice with a typically Teutonic rolled "R" that is what made his career, for a lifetime."

"On October 22, 2005, the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper wrote the following: "Germany is a divided country also in its attitude toward Heino. Some love him; others despise him.""

"In 2018, he presented the Minister for Homeland Affairs of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia with an album that also featured songs that had been sung by the notorious Schutzstaffel (SS), a major paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany, this sparked a major uproar in the media. Heino defended himself and was quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung at the time as saying: "The songs themselves cannot be held responsible if they are instrumentalized.""

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