Henry Valentino
“In the car in front of me” interpreter died at the age of 95
Henry Valentino enjoyed great success, especially in the 60s and 70s.
© imago/Funke Photo Services
The pop world is mourning: Henry Valentino, known for his cult hit “Im Wagen vor mir”, has died at the age of 95.
Composer and pop star Hans-Bernd Blum, better known by his pseudonym Henry Valentino, is dead. This was announced by his record company According to consistent media reports, it was announced on behalf of the surviving relatives. “A long life marked by happiness and impressive creativity has come to an end,” it says. Valentino died “at night and very peacefully” at the age of 95.
Most of the time he worked away from the direct spotlight
For most of his career, Valentino worked in the background as a composer and lyricist. For example, he wrote the song “The Beautiful Girl from Page One”, with which Howard Carpendale (78) celebrated great success in 1970. “Don’t bite into every apple straight away” (1966), sung by Wencke Myhre (77), was also his musical credit.
However, he himself sang what is probably his most famous hit to date: in 1977, in a duet with singer Uschi (Ursula Peysang), Valentino released the song “Im Wagen vor mir”. Over time, the song was covered and satirized many times, including by Otto Waalkes and Die Toten Hosen (under the pseudonym Die Roten Rosen).
Henry Valentino also had a hand in the Eurovision Song Contest several times. Between 1965 and 1986 he was involved in four German entries for the ESC. The best place (eighth place) went to the last one, “Über die Brücke geh’n”, sung by Ingrid Peters (69).