Singer and actor Rainhard Jürgen Fendrich (February 27, 1955) is often credited with popularizing Austropop throughout the German-speaking world. Born and raised in Vienna, he taught himself how to play the guitar during his teenage years and dropped out of law school to pursue a career in music. In the early 80s, Rainhard Fendrich got his start performing in the musicals Die Gräfin vom Naschmarkt and Jesus Christ Superstar before releasing his studio debut Ich wollte nie einer von denen sein in 1980. Despite its timid chart performance, the album was instrumental in paving the way for his major breakout with 1981’s Und alles is ganz anders word'n. Propelled by the summer anthem “Strada del Sole,” the album quickly rose to the top of the Austrian charts, a feat he would repeat with the LPs Zwischen eins und vier (1982) and Wien bei Nacht (1985). In 1988, he broke into the German market with the single "Macho, Macho," reaching number 2 in Germany and number 3 in Switzerland. Included in his 1990 album Von Zeit zu Zeit, the song "I Am From Austria" didn’t perform as well as expected at the time but went on to become one of the greatest Austropop hits in history. In the late 1990s, he formed the pop-rock band Austria 3 with Wolfgang Ambros and Georg Danzer, active between 1997 and 2007. Subsequently, Rainhard Fendrich stayed atop the Austrian charts with classic albums such as Meine Zeit (2010), Besser wird's nicht (2013), Schwarzoderweiss (2016), and Starkregen (2019). Recorded at Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace with the Salzburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the live album Symphonisch in Schönbrunn (2024) rose to the top of the charts in Austria while peaking at number 23 in Germany.
