The singer-songwriter and GDR dissident Wolf Biermann (87) has invited numerous artists to record an album with cover versions of his songs. "Wolf Biermann Re:imagined - Lieder für jetzt!" is due to be released on November 15 to mark Biermann's 88th birthday.
The first song, "Ermutigung" in a version by Swiss musician Bonaparte, was released on Friday. The album is intended to show that Biermann's music and lyrics are still relevant, according to Biermann's label and publisher Clouds Hill.
Several releases of singles are planned before the album in November. The songs were recorded both at Clouds Hill and partly in the home studios of those involved.
Biermann, who was born in Hamburg, moved to the GDR in 1953 and lived in Berlin for a long time. After a concert in Cologne, he was expatriated by the GDR leadership in 1976. The expulsion and the subsequent protests in the GDR are regarded as a political caesura in German-German post-war history. Biermann lives in Hamburg again.
