Biography
Jonny Hill (born on 27 July 1940 in Graz as Feri Gillming) is an Austrian musician, lyricist, producer, and entertainer known primarily for his work in schlager and German-language country music. He has lived in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland for several years.
After leaving school, Hill initially worked as an actor and appeared in several minor theatre roles. In 1962, he had a supporting role in the feature film "Auf Wiedersehn am blauen Meer". He was later discovered as a singer by composer and producer Lotar Olias, who sought to develop him commercially because of similarities between Hill's voice and that of singer Freddy Quinn. Using the pseudonym Victor, he released the singles "Liebe ist Feuer und Wasser" and "Ich bin dein Freund" in 1968.
Read full biography ↓
Hill achieved his first major commercial success in northern Germany in October 1969 with the song "Wieder in der Heimat", which was released as the B-side of "Ein Herz und eine Rose". The song was presented by Ilse Seemann on the NDR 2 programme "Deutsche Schlagerparade" and entered the chart at number seven before later reaching the top position. In March 1971, he achieved another regional success with the song "Und küssen konnte sie gut".
In 1978, Hill participated in the German national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Louisiana". He reached eighth place among the fifteen entries that qualified for the final round.
Hill's best-known recording is "Ruf Teddybär Eins-Vier", released in 1979. The song is a German adaptation of the American hit "Teddy Bear" and consists primarily of spoken-word passages accompanied by music. The recording became a commercial success and earned him a gold record award. In addition to schlager and country music, Hill has also performed folk songs and sea shanties.
In 1989, the television broadcaster RTL gave Hill his own television programme titled "Kilometer 330". He later participated several times in music competitions. At the 1992 "Grand Prix der Volksmusik", his song "Zur großen Freiheit" placed ninth in the German preliminary round. In 1995, his entry "Sieben Meere" finished twelfth in the same competition. He achieved second place at the Lower Saxony competition "Lieder so schön wie der Norden" in 1993 with the song "Kleine Helden auf großer Fahrt". In 1998, he also took part in the "Deutsche Schlager-Festspiele", where his song "Der Regenmann" placed sixth.
Hill has continued to appear regularly on television and radio programmes and has also worked as a producer for other artists. Since 2017, he has been an honorary member of the organisation "Kraftfahrer-Initiative Bewegen mit Herz e. V."
Hill was married to his wife Helga from 1964 until her death in 2025. The couple had two sons, the younger of whom died in 2021. Hill is the brother of writer Folke Tegetthoff.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.