He turns 80 on March 18th, but Dieter “Machine” Birr is far from thinking about quitting: Even at his age, the musician is regularly on stage. He has two famous role models for this: “Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are even older and still active,” the singer told the DPA.
The singer, who was born in Köslin/Pomerania in 1944, told the agency: “I’ll carry on as long as I can – and I don’t have to be ashamed.” According to the former Puhdys member, reasons for no longer performing would be “if you’re no longer good enough, if people don’t come anymore or if it becomes too physically demanding.” In 1969, Birr became the frontman of the band, which became the most commercially successful rock group in the GDR. He got the nickname “Machine” because a bandmate called him an eating machine.
The most important thing is that you are credible. And something else is important for the senior rocker: “I want it really loud on stage and the people can really hear me.”
