b. Hamburg, Germany. Astor began his career as a German pop star in 1975, and he has subsequently become the most prominent central European working in the country music idiom. He has collaborated with artists including Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. He released his debut album, Flieg Junger Adler, in 1980. A year later he represented Germany at the International Show of the Country Music Association, held in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He has continued to win recognition since that occasion, collecting the prize for Country Entertainer Of The Year at the International Country Music Federation rally in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1983. The massive domestic success that accompanied his 1983 single, ‘Hallo, Guten Morgen Deutschland’, triggered a huge growth in the German country music scene. A series of further hit singles followed, including ‘Take It Easy: Nimm’s Leicht’, ‘International Airport’ and ‘Sturm Und Drang’. His albums have also featured traditional country fare such as ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ and ‘Tennessee Waltz’, translated into German.