Frank Zander said goodbye to the big stage at the age of 81 – but leaves a back door open. At the Berlin “Schlager Olymp” in the Lübars lido he officially had his last big appearance in the evening – for around half an hour. He wore a captain’s suit with a cap and his typical small round sunglasses.
“There is a bit of melancholy, but that only really comes when it’s over,” said the Berlin veteran of the German Press Agency before the performance. At “Schlager Olymp” he was one of many stars. Among others, Anna-Carina Woitschak, Vanessa Mai, Bernhard Brink and Nino de Angelo were on stage – each around 30 minutes.
Zander has new plans
“Maybe I’ll come back sometime, but I don’t want to commit myself there,” said Zander. His bones are now cracking. That’s why he wants to do a little sport, for the sake of his family. “I have two new hips and I’ve had prostate cancer before. Now I want to do physical therapy and climb two flights of stairs a day,” said the singer.
Which sport would he still not do under any circumstances? “I won’t box, my nose is far too important to me for that. But cycling would be my thing.”
Zander, who was born in Berlin-Neukölln and is a trained graphic designer and painter, has been on stage for over 50 years. The singer with the raspy voice had some hits like “Here Comes Kurt”, “Nur Home” and “I Drink to Your Health, Marie”.
He doesn’t completely disappear
The “Bild” said the entertainer a few days ago: “I sang almost everything. I said almost everything. I did almost everything. I deserve to bring some peace into my life.”
The big performances – like recently in the Waldbühne with 20,000 visitors – are now too much for him, Zander told the dpa. He wants people to be close to him.
At his traditional big Christmas party for Berlin’s homeless and needy, which he has organized every year since 1995, you will still be able to touch him. “And of course at Hertha BSC in the east curve.”
