Bruce Low – born Ernst Gottfried Bielke in Paramaribo, Suriname (March 26, 1913) – was a Dutch pop and gospel singer. He grew up in South America due to his parents’ missionary work. By the time he was 8, his family moved to the Netherlands, where he attended school and studied the tenor saxophone. He played the saxophone in his high school jazz band before attending the German University for Physical Education in Berlin, Germany. A physical injury forced him to change direction and he began studying singing. His career began after World War II when he would organize and MC live shows for visiting Americans. He would then do similar work for radio broadcasts. He was discovered while singing to stagehands and signed to a record label. His first singles included “Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand”, which was his breakthrough hit. He also began a career as an actor, appearing in 10 films throughout the 1950s. Bruce Low’s string of hit singles included “Wenn die Sonne scheint in Texas” (1956), “Und es weht der Wind” (1956), “Theo” (1957), and “Hafenlicht” (1961). The hits dried up when rock ‘n’ roll became popular, and Bruce Low’s musical career seemed to have come to an end. However, in the 1970s, there was a resurgence of interest in his music, and he scored more hits with songs such as “Noah” (1971), “Das Kartenspiel” (1974), “Die Legende von Babylon” (1978), and others. In the late 1980s, he published his autobiography Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand. Das Lied meines Lebens. Bruce Low died on March 3, 1990, at the age of 76.
