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Roger Cicero, one of the giants of the modern German music scene, has passed away aged just 45 following a stroke.
Cicero was a talented performer who performed in public throughout his teenage years, before studying jazz singing at the Amsterdam Academy of Arts. He went on to form the Roger Cicero Quartet and also performed with his 11-piece big band.
He signed to Warner Music Central Europe and released his debut album Männersachen in 2006. Cicero was the very first artist at Starwatch Music, the label founded by the German TV station ProSieben/Sat.1 and Warner Music. His first album climbed to number three in the German charts and Cicero won an Echo Award for Best German Pop or Rock Artist, the Fred Jay Award and many more.
A string of successful albums – Beziehungsweise (2007), Artgerecht (2009), In Diesem Moment (2011) and Was Immer Auch Kommt (2014) were also released by Warner Music/Starwatch. All albums charted in the German top five and sold more than 1.5 million copies. He also represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Content in 2007 and headlined the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2010. He went on to release The Roger Cicero Jazz Experience and his latest album, Cicero Sings Sinatra, in 2015 on RCA/Sony, earning him another Echo nomination.
Bernd Dopp, Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Central Europe, says: “I was devastated to hear the news of Roger Cicero’s untimely death. He was an incredible talent who lit up the music scene in Germany for more than a decade and whose legacy will last forever. The thoughts of all of us at Warner Music Central Europe are with his family and friends at this difficult time.”
