Rainhard Fendrich released his first album in 1980. Only a year later, he topped the charts with the summer hit “Strada del Sole”. Subsequent hits include “Es lebe der Sport”, “Schickeria” and “Macho Macho”. Over the years, his “I am from Austria” has become a kind of unofficial national anthem.  For the European football championship in 2008, he wrote the theme song “Wir sind Europa”, which he recorded with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and an orchestra. So far, he has released over 50 albums, which have won countless gold and platinum awards, including his debut album “Ich wollte nie einer von denen sein”, and “Männersache”, released in 2001. The albums “Nix ist fix” (1991) and “Besser wird’s nicht” (2013) went one better, winning double platinum awards. In 1992, he opened the Wiener Festwochen together with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Schönberg Choir, conducted by Christian Kolonovits, in a concert in front of the Vienna town hall attended by 60,000 people.  The concert was broadcast live by the ORF. Together with Austropop legends Georg Danzer and Wolfgang Ambros, Rainhard Fendrich founded the group Austria 3, which toured Austria and Germany.  He has received countless awards for his work over the course of his career.  In 1985, he won a Pop Amadeus for “Best Composer” and in 2002 an Amadeus Award for “Best Pop/Rock Singer”. He has also won three Romy Awards for his film and TV work. He has presented the dating show “Herzblatt” and the music quiz “Sing and Win!” and has appeared in countless films.  Rainhard Fendrich began his career in the theatre and has performed on numerous Viennese stages. He has played Judas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and Billy Flynn in the Broadway production CHICAGO, as well as Leopold in WHITE HORSE INN at the Seefestspiele Mörbisch festival. Rainhard Fendrich is also well known for his charitable work and has given numerous fundraising concerts for a range of charities. His current album “Schwarzoderweiß” was released on 7 October 2016 and went to the top of the Austrian album charts in its first week. It has since gone platinum.  The album’s release was accompanied by a tour of Austria and Germany, which started in February 2017.