The amigos

The amigos
Karl-Heinz (left) and Bernd Ulrich 2018
General information
Genre (s)	Popular hit
founding	1970
Website	www.die-amigos.de
Current occupation
Drums and vocals	Bernd Ulrich
Keyboard and vocals	Karl-Heinz Ulrich
singing	Daniela Alfinito (from 2000)
former members
	Rudi Lang (1970–1980)
	Günther Zimmer (1970–1985, † 1985)
Keyboard	Witold Piwonski (1985–2000, † 2008)

The Amigos are a German-speaking music group specializing in popular hits from Villingen in Central Hesse , a district of Hungen .

The group

Founded in 1970 by Bernd Ulrich (born December 2, 1950) and his two years older brother Karl-Heinz Ulrich (born November 19, 1948), the Amigos, which initially included Rudi Lang and Günther Zimmer, were the main players in the early days at events in different villages and cities. Lang retired in 1980 for professional reasons, Zimmer died in 1985. In 1986 a Cologne entrepreneur who had heard them at an event enabled them to record their first CD. After initial setbacks and negative reactions to their demo recordings, the music companies Bellaphon in Frankfurt and Tyrolis from Austria finally got in touch and showed interest in working together. The latter should be followed by two more productions. After a stagnation in the further development of the formation, the Amigos decided to limit themselves to live performances. Encouraged by the great demand from their fans for a new CD, the Amigos set up their own recording studio.

Witold Piwonski accompanied the Amigos for 15 years during their live performances on the keyboard . However, in 2000 he suffered a stroke as a result of which he was coma and died in 2008. After an unsuccessful search for a replacement, the formation was slightly reorganized. The guitarist Karl-Heinz Ulrich now also played the keyboard, and Daniela Alfinito , Bernd Ulrich's daughter, strengthened the Amigos as a singer.

In 2006 the Amigos achieved their final breakthrough when they appeared in Achim's hit parade and won the title "King of Musicians". At the end of the year they also won the overall ranking of Achim's hit parade: Who will be the musician emperor?

In January 2007 they appeared in the Krone der Volksmusik and released their first DVD. The Amigos were nominated for the first time at the Echo 2007 in the Schlager category, but could not prevail against Andrea Berg . In the following years, the Amigos were always among the nominees and finally won their first award in the folk music category at the 2011 Echo Awards .

The album Der helle Wahnsinn reached 72nd place among the best-selling albums in Germany in 2007, the album The Great Successes landed on rank 37.

In the course of the year the Amigos received various gold and platinum records . The great successes received gold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as platinum in Germany and Austria. The bright madness and Christmas at home were awarded gold in Germany and Austria.

After appearing on the show in 2007 and 2008, the Amigos received the Folk Music Crown in 2009, 2010 and 2012 .

In June 2013 it was announced that the Amigos were switching to Ariola ; there they released the studio album summer dreams on July 25, 2014 . In May 2019 the Amigos switched to the Munich label Telamo. Since then three studio albums have been released there.

reception

The text of the song Bella Donna Blue from the album 110 Karat is quoted in the novel Kühn hat Hunger by Jan Weiler .

Discography

→ Main article : The Amigos / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1989	Love and longing	-	-	-	First published: October 24, 1989
1990	All the best, all the best	-	-	-	First published: February 6, 1990
1993	Please give me this night	-	-	-	First published: February 3, 1993
1994	Longing in their heart	-	-	-	First published: December 31, 1994
1996	Stars of Santa Monica	-	-	-	First published: June 13, 1996
2000	Between love and madness	-	-	-	First published: 2000
2002	heart to Heart	-	-	-	First published: 2002
2004	I get up again	DE58 gold (5 weeks)DE	AT48 (9 weeks) AT	-	First published: 2004 Sales: + 100,000
2005	... through fire	DE66 gold (5 weeks)DE	AT25th gold (20 weeks)AT	-	First published: 2005 Sales: + 110,000
2007	The total madness	DE1 × 3 Triple gold (24 weeks)DE	AT2 platinum (29 weeks)AT	CH8th gold (19 weeks)CH	First published: August 24, 2007 Sales: + 335,000
2008	A day in paradise	DE7th platinum (19 weeks)DE	AT3 platinum (27 weeks)AT	CH13 gold (15 weeks)CH	First published: August 22, 2008 Sales: + 235,000
2009	Longing that burns like fire	DE5 platinum (13 weeks)DE	AT2 platinum (23 weeks)AT	CH18 (18 weeks) CH	First published: June 26th, 2009 Sales: + 220,000
2010	Do you know what you are to me	DE2 platinum (13 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (30 weeks)AT	CH3 (13 weeks) CH	First published: July 23, 2010 Sales: + 220,000
2011	My heaven on earth	DE1 gold (16 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (33 weeks)AT	CH4 (19 weeks) CH	First published: July 22, 2011 Sales: + 120,000
2012	until the end of time	DE1 (13 weeks) DE	AT1 platinum (22 weeks)AT	CH2 (14 weeks) CH	First published: August 3, 2012 Sales: + 20,000
2013	Young at heart	DE1 (14 weeks) DE	AT1 platinum (18 weeks)AT	CH5 (17 weeks) CH	First published: June 14, 2013 Sales: + 15,000
2014	Unforgettable hits	DE5 (8 weeks) DE	AT3 (14 weeks) AT	CH6 (9 weeks) CH	First release: January 10, 2014 cover album
	Summer dreams	DE1 gold (16 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (21 weeks)AT	CH1 (12 weeks) CH	First published: July 25, 2014 Sales: + 115,000
2015	Santiago Blue	DE1 gold (25 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (29 weeks)AT	CH1 (19 weeks) CH	First published: June 26, 2015 Sales: + 115,000
2016	Like fireworks	DE1 gold (11 weeks)DE	AT1 gold (13 weeks)AT	CH1 (12 weeks) CH	First published: July 22nd, 2016 Sales: +107,500
2017	Magic land	DE1 gold (18 weeks)DE	AT2 platinum (25 weeks)AT	CH1 (18 weeks) CH	First published: July 28, 2017 Sales: + 115,000
2018	110 carats	DE1 (19 weeks) DE	AT1 (15 weeks) AT	CH1 (16 weeks) CH	First published: July 13, 2018
2019	Babylon	DE1 gold (24 weeks)DE	AT2 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (16 weeks) CH	First published: July 26, 2019 Sales: + 100,000
2020	A thousand dreams	DE1 (... week) DE	AT1 (... week) AT	CH1 (... week) CH	First published: July 10, 2020

Awards

ECHO Pop

• 2011: in the category "Artists / Folk Music Group"

Folk music crown

• 2009, 2010, 2012

Smago! Award (sole record holder of most smago! Awards)

• 2011: in the category "Most successful hit duo of the year"
• 2012: in the category "Most successful hit duo of the year"
• 2013: in the category "Most successful hit duo of the year"
• 2014: in the category "Most successful hit duo in Europe"
• 2016: in the category "Most successful hit duo in Europe"
• 2017: in the "Special Award" category (for 3 triple No. 1 albums (Germany - Austria - Switzerland) in a row)

Others

• 2006: King of Musicians ; in Achim's hit parade
• 2006: Musikantenkaiser ; in the annual overall rating

literature

• 2006: The Best of the Amigos Songbook
• 2006: Melodies of the Heart Songbook
• 2006: Her great successes songbook
• 2006: Christmas at Home Songbook
• 2007: The bright madness songbook
• 2008: A Day in Paradise Songbook
• 2008: CD & book combination
• 2009: Longing That Burns Like Fire Songbook

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} "The Amigos": Faithful to the fans and to German hits , September 3, 2010, Wetterauer Zeitung
2. ↑ tr / no: Amigos with a new CD in the Schlagerrennen - Villinger live on ZDF on Saturday evening . In: Gießener Allgemeine , July 22, 2010, p. 33
3. ↑ Great grief among the Amigos: their 3rd husband is dead! ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
4. ^ MTV: Album annual charts 2007. January 1, 2008, archived from the original on June 10, 2008 ; Retrieved September 4, 2012 . 
5. ↑ MDR: "Krone der Volksmusik" was awarded again. (No longer available online.) January 9, 2012, archived from the original on March 10, 2016 ; Retrieved December 28, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Biography: The Amigos. In: schlager.de. Retrieved July 6, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Dietmar Schwenger: Amigos switch to Telamo. In: MusikWoche. May 20, 2019, accessed August 3, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Jan Weiler: Kühn is hungry. Munich 2019. p. 65f.

Web links

Commons : The Amigos  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• The Amigos in the Internet Movie Database (English)