If life is a dream, can’t dreams also become real life? Gerry Friedle, born on January 7, 1971 in the Tyrolean mountain town of Ötz, is proof of the thesis. His life is a story that every Hollywood author would have to fail with because it seems far too constructed for a believable film plot: the little boy is given away by his mother after birth, goes to foster parents, then to his grandmother Ella. He is simply pushed back and forth by fate, loses social ties, falls apart – until he ends up homeless somewhere on the street. “I was,” he says in his memory, “really on the ground. As far down as you could possibly be.” Gerry had learned to be a chef at his grandmother’s request, but somehow he always knew that it couldn’t be everything for him. He was a seeker who had simply gotten lost in the wrong paths of life until… yes, until that historic hour when Gerry Friedle stood on a stage for the first time and identified music as the elixir of life.
“Back then I met a girl who loved me as I was. With the help of this girl I caught myself again.” And with a sentence that became his motto: “Gerry, you can do anything you want. You just have to believe in it.” Because he wanted to impress his girlfriend, he dragged her to a club to sing karaoke. Everything else became a piece of pop music history. “I was scared on stage, but it was also like a drug.” Over the next few weeks and months, Gerry performed where he was allowed to take the microphone. Without a fee, but with the knowledge that he was on the right path. In Austria he received more and more offers as a DJ, worked as a chef and also appeared on stage. Large discotheque owner Andreas Schutti, now a close friend of DJ Ötzi, hired him for his clubs. “Working as a DJ was the most important basis for my job today,” he says. “It was the basis.” The next step was the decisive one for a world career.
For ten years, a song had been floating around the Austrian music scene that a few artists had tried without much success. “Anton from Tirol”. Gerry was the 15th person to interpret Anton – and tore the song out of the shadows. Released on July 7, 1999, the song climbed into the top 30 of the Austrian charts – became No. 1, and quickly conquered the German hit lists. DJ Ötzi was a star overnight. But: “Every dream has its price. However, I try to find the good in every bitter hour.” “Anton” was followed by the no less big hit “Hey Baby”, the song interpreted by Gerry Friedle was released in more than 15 countries and stormed to the top of the charts in England, Denmark, Germany, Austria and South Africa. In England, DJ Ötzi was the first Austrian artist to go platinum! Last fall’s “Burger Dance” became Gerry’s last No. 1 hit to date. Now he is once again at the start of the fight for the fans’ favor with “Not Without Us” and “Tanz den Rehakles”.
Source: djoetzi-music.de
