Ronny the German pop singer, composer and producer, whose real name was Wolfgang Roloff, died on August 18, 2011 at the age of 81. Ronny was a celebrity in the 1960s with songs like “Little Anna Bell” and “Oh My Darling Caroline” from which he had great success. Ronny was born in Bremen, Germany on March 10, 1930 and was a member of such groups as ‘Valerie’ and 'Bob and Eddy in the 1950s. As a producer he made Heintje a child star. Since the seventies he produced in his studio in Bremen Oberneuland. There he made recording with such famous bands like Münchener Freiheit, Mister President und Fettes Brot. Also The Rudi Carell Show originated in the studio. Ronny sang “Kein Gold am Blue River” for the German score of “$5,000 on the Ace” (1964) and “Kenn ein Land” for "Black Eagle of Santa Fe: (1965) for which he also appeared as a singing cowboy.
Ronny had several great hits in my country, Holland. In fact he was a bigger star in Holland in the 60s than his rival (and in Germany far more successful) Freddy Quinn.
People often spoke about Ronny & Freddy as if they were some kind of twin artists (in the same misleading way they spoke about Elvis & Cliff)
His biggest hit in Holland was Kleine Annabel, which was several weeks at number one. His star declined with the breakthrough of ‘pop music’, all of a sudden all hits were sung in English. His most enduring success in Germany, Sierra Madre del sur, never hit the charts in Holland.
He had a great voice and also occasionally sang in English.
