Death of dialect rock singer Polo Hofer
The Bernese dialect singer and lyricist Polo Hofer has died of lung cancer at the age of 72.
Born in Interlaken in 1945, Polo Hofer's real name was Urs Hofer. At the beginning of the 1970s, he played a key role in the emergence of dialect rock with the group Rumpelstilz and from 1984 to 2003 with the Schmetterband. Since 1976, he has received 15 gold and 8 platinum awards for particularly successful recordings. Hofer has won the Prix Walo, the highest honor in Swiss show business, three times.
Hofer, who also trained as a typographer, showed his special talent as a translator of successful English songs, such as Bob Dylan's songs or the classic "Son of a Preacher Man" with Valais singer Sina. A square in Interlaken is named after him and his colleague Hanery Amman.
