After Halloween you can now slowly get in the mood for Christmas – for example with “Always when it snows” by Wolfgang “Wolle” Petry (72). His first Christmas album in 23 years will be released on November 3rd. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, the “Weiß der Vulture” singer talks about his favorite song, his biggest Christmas wish and why fans no longer have to expect a live performance.
“I’m fine,” says Wolfgang Petry – and that’s not a given. The pop star recently made headlines with eye surgery. It was said in September that he almost went blind due to cataracts. However, an operation on both eyes in a Bonn hospital saved his sight. “The operation went very well and was successful,” “Bild” quoted the pop star from Cologne as saying. “I can now see like a lynx again and recognize all the notes and lyrics clearly, which helps me enormously in my work in the recording studio.”
And so, over the past few months, a new Christmas album with a total of twelve songs has been created – our own compositions and cover versions of popular Christmas songs. The press release says: “The atmospheric, nostalgic start to ‘Always when it snows’ is made by the title song of the same name, on which Wolfgang Petry talks about fond memories of Christmas past and how this special time remains for him to this day, to festive pop sounds has lost none of its original magic.” In the past, the man with the friendship bracelets often gave his fans Christmas albums like the two-part “Joy,” “Wolles Fröhliche Weihnachts” and the best-of “Joyful Christmas.” Why did he now decide to contribute music to the cradle festival again? “It just happened that way, and I thought it was time again after 20 years,” he explains in an interview with spot on news.
Choosing the new album wasn’t that easy for him: “Since I’ve already recorded so many Christmas songs, I had to browse a lot to find new songs. I then equipped them with the ‘Wolle Sound’,” reports he and adds: “But there are also a few new compositions.” His favorite song is “That Must Be Love”. He explains the reason for this as follows: “I suddenly had so many images in my head, and then I saw the Christ child in front of my door.”
What he’s really looking forward to at Christmas is seeing his family and “laughing a lot.” There are no material things on his wish list, but rather “health, health, health.” Given his experiences this year, that’s probably all too understandable. However, he turns down fans who especially want their “Wolle” to perform live again at Christmas: “I’m just letting my time stand there!”
In 2006, Wolfgang Petry said goodbye to the stage after a 30-year career and cult hits like “Wahnsinn” and “Du bist ein Wunder”. His last appearance was at the Goldene Tuning Fork. In 2019 he dared to make another small comeback as rocker Pete Wolf. Even though Petry has retired from the stage, he regularly delivers new music. The album “Stark wie wir” was last released on March 3, 2023. It was a declaration of love to his wife Rosie. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in November 2022. The two appeared in front of the camera together for the first time for the video for the album precursor “You belong to me and I belong to you”.
With his typical mix of rock and hits, Wolfgang Petry is one of the most successful artists in Germany. He can now look back on almost twenty million units sold and a total of 27 studio albums. There are also several gold records, five echoes and ten golden tuning forks.
