Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born 21 December 1942) is a German "Liedermacher" (literally "songmaker", a German-style singer-songwriter). In France he is known as Frédérik Mey.

By 2009, Mey had released 27 German albums, and generally releases a new album approximately every two years; his first album was Ich wollte wie Orpheus singen (1967); the most recent studio album is Das Haus an der Ampel (2020). His biggest success to date was Mein Achtel Lorbeerblatt (1972). His most famous song by far is "Über den Wolken" (1974), which has been covered by numerous German artists. Mey is known to embark upon an extensive concert tour every two or three years, with a live album released from each tour.

Reinhard Mey was born on 21 December 1942, in Berlin, Germany, where he spent his childhood. At the age of 12, he had his first piano lesson, and at the age of 14 he got his first guitar. He taught himself how to play the trumpet. During his school years he gained performance experience by playing Skiffle music with friends. In 1965, Mey was offered the chance to perform at a Liedermacher festival at Waldeck Castle, a converted castle ruin. This led to his first recording contract. In 1961, he became part of the group Les Trois Affamés, with Schobert Schulz.

In 1963, Mey graduated from the French Gymnasium in Berlin, receiving the German Abitur as well as the French Baccalauréat, and thereafter began vocational training as an industrial trader at Schering AG Berlin. He broke off his university studies in economics in order to concentrate on songwriting and singing, and has been a successful performer in Germany, in France, and in the Netherlands ever since. He has written songs in German, French, Dutch and English. He records his French material under the name of Frédérik Mey. In 1967, he married a French woman named Christine. Their marriage was dissolved in 1976.

Today, Mey lives in Berlin-Frohnau in his second marriage (since 1977) to Hella Hennies (born in Hanover), and had three children in the marriage: Frederik (born 20 November 1976), Maximilian (born 28 January 1982; died May 2014), and Victoria-Luise (born 19 November 1985).

His son Maximilian died in May 2014 after five years in a persistent vegetative state. Undiagnosed severe pneumonia had led to a cardio-pulmonary arrest, from which Maximilian was resuscitated after eight minutes of hypoxia.

Mey writes both sensitive and humorous songs, with subject matter taken mostly from his everyday life and surroundings. His themes include life on the road, his hobbies (e.g., flying), childhood memories, his family life and surroundings, and occasionally politics. ...

Source: Article "Reinhard Mey" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Reinhard Mey, connu en France sous le nom de Frédérik Mey, est un auteur-compositeur-interprète allemand né le 21 décembre 1942 à Berlin–Wilmersdorf. Il interprète plusieurs de ses chansons indifféremment en allemand ou en français.

Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey est le fils cadet de Gerhard Mey, avocat, et de Hertha Mey-Koch, institutrice.

Il est élève du Collège français de Berlin et y passe à la fois l’Abitur et le baccalauréat français. Le chanteur Ulrich Roski, la politologue Gesine Schwan y sont ses camarades. Mey est ensuite commercial-stagiaire aux laboratoires Schering à Berlin. Il interrompt de nouvelles études en management à l’Université technique de Berlin au bout d'un semestre pour se consacrer entièrement à sa vocation d'auteur-compositeur interprète.

Reinhard Mey commence l'étude du piano à 12 ans; à 14 ans, sa tante lui offre sa première guitare, et peu après il en achète une deuxième pour seulement 14 DM. Il apprend seul à jouer de la trompette. Avec un groupe de camarades d'école, il forme en 1957 un groupe de skiffle, les Rotten Radish Skiffle Guys, qui lui apporte ses premières expériences de scène. En 1961, il forme avec Wolfgang Schulz un nouveau groupe, Les Trois Affamés. Son premier titre, Ich wollte wie Orpheus singen, paraît en 1964. La même année, il se produit pour la première fois en spectacle à l'occasion du Festival Chanson Folklore International, au milieu des ruines du château-fort de Waldeck dans le Hunsrück.

En 1967 il représente l'Allemagne au festival de Knokke-Le Zoute, performance qui lui vaut son premier contrat avec un producteur musical français. Il épouse une Française, Christine, dont il divorcera en 1976. Mey vit depuis 1977 à Berlin-Frohnau avec sa seconde épouse Hella, dont il a eu deux fils (nés en 1976 et 1982) et une fille (née en 1985). Son deuxième fils Maximilian trouve la mort en mai 2014, des suites d'une inflammation pulmonaire qui l'avait plongé dans le coma cinq ans plus tôt.

Source: Article "Reinhard Mey" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.