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Austrian musician and human rights activist Willi Resetarits recently passed away at the age of 73. Although further details are still awaited, reports say he died in an unspecified accident.
The news was confirmed by his family and detailed information on his funeral is yet to be revealed. He was famous for reinterpreting popular international songs in the Austrian dialect.
Everything known about Willi Resetarits
Born on December 21, 1948, in Stinatz, Austria, Willi’s family shifted to Vienna when he was three. He studied sports and English, aiming to become a teacher. However, he decided to become a musician after achieving some success in the field.
He joined the political rock band Schmetterlinge in 1969 and participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 in London with the song Boom-Boom-Boomerang, which was voted second to last.
Resetarits then developed his alter ego, Dr. Kurt Ostbahn, with his colleague Günter Brödl in the mid-1980s. It was an excessive personality with an intense stage presence and turned out to be a success.
The name was created in the mid-1970s when Brödl was asked on a radio show what American musicians would call themselves if they were from Vienna. Brödl answered Ostbahn-Kurti & Die Chefpartie, which later became the name of Resetarits and his band. Willi introduced the musical form of Favorit'n Blues, a Viennese form of rhythm and blues.
Following the death of Brödl in 2000, Dr. Kurt Ostbahn went on a final commemoration tour and announced the retirement of his alter ego in 2003. However, Dr. Kurt Ostbahn made four more appearances and was joined on stage by a selection of musicians from his bands, Chefpartie and Kombo.
Resetarits was verified as an extraordinary entertainer from a popular weekly radio show in Vienna, Trost und Rat von und mit Dr. Kurt Ostbahn. He went on tour with Kurdish singer Sivan Perwer in 2006.
Willi was also a human rights activist and the founder of the humanitarian organizations, Asyl in Not and SOS Mitmensch. He was one of the founders and chairman of Integration House Vienna and frequently appeared in Austrian TV and film productions.
Netizens pay tribute on Twitter
Willi Resetarits was well-known to everyone as a musician and social activist. Twitter was flooded with tributes when people heard about his demise:
Detailed information about his personal life is yet to be revealed.
