Urs Alfred Hofer was born on 16 March 1945 in Interlaken, Switzerland, and later adopted the stage name Polo Hofer, a singer whose work spanned pop rock and rock music. After completing a four‑year apprenticeship as a lithographer, he founded the hobby group The Jetmen in 1961, where he served as drummer and lead vocalist; his talent was first recognized in 1967 when he was awarded Best Singer at the Swiss Rhythm 'n' Blues Festival. In 1971 he formed the Swiss dialect rock band Rumpelstilz with Hanery Amman, Schifer Schafer and Sämi Jungen, and the group released its first single "Warehuus-Blues" in 1973 followed by the album Vogelfuetter in 1975; the 1976 LP Fünf Narren Im Karren included the hits "Kiosk" and "Teddybär", the former of which later led to a legal settlement with the writers of Little Feat’s "Dixie Chicken" when it was released in German. After Rumpelstilz disbanded, Hofer launched Polo’s Schmetterding with Span and Marianna Polistena, producing four albums—Polovinyl (1984), 12 Schmetter-Hits (1985), Giggerig (1985) and Im Wilde Weste (1986)—and a 1989 reunion live recording Live im Anker with the original lineup. In 1984 he established the SchmetterBand, touring until a farewell concert in 2003 that was later released on DVD. Throughout the 1990s he collaborated with The Alpinistos and recorded three English‑language albums with Swiss Blues Authority (Silber, Gold & Perle, 2004; Silber, Gold und Perle, 2004), as well as Buebetröim with the Swiss Jazz Orchestra in 1990. His 2009 solo album Prototyp reached number one on the Swiss charts and included the official fan song "Manne, mir blybe dranne" for the 2010 World Cup. Hofer also released the compilation Rimix (2012) and the retrospective 100 % Schweizer Musik (2015). Hofer’s career earned him two Prix Walo awards (1995 for Rock and 2002 for Pop & Rock), the 2008 Bern Music Prize, and a 2011 Swiss Music Awards Lifetime Achievement honour; he also received the Goldene Schlüssel from the Interlaken city council in 2007. In addition to his musical output he acted in films such as Das Schweigen der Männer (1997) and Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche (2005), and performed on radio with a weekly show on DRS 3 from 2008 to 2011. He remained active in the Swiss music scene until his death on 22 July 2017 in Oberhofen am Thunersee after a lung cancer battle.
