James Last (Hans Last, * April 17, 1929 in Bremen, † June, 9, 2015 in Flori… Read Full Bio ↴James Last (Hans Last, * April 17, 1929 in Bremen, † June, 9, 2015 in Florida) was a German composer and big band leader with a large fan base in Europe and world-wide. Last's trademark was arranging pop hits in a big-band style; his series of "party albums" is equally well-known. Over the course of his career, he has sold well over 100 million albums.
Last learned how to play piano as child, switching to bass as a teenager. He joined Hans-Gunther Oesterreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra in 1946, when he was 17 years old. In 1948, he became the leader of the Becker-Last Ensemble, which performed for seven years. During that time, he was voted as the best bassist in the country by a German jazz poll for three consecutive years, from 1950-1952. After the disbandment of the Becker-Last Ensemble, he became the in-house arranger for Polydor Records, as well as for a number of European radio stations. For the next decade, he helped arrange hits for artists like Helmut Zacharias and Caterina Valente.
Last released his first album "Non-Stop Dancing" in 1965. The record of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and joyous crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last has released over 190 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varies his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto.
Though his concerts and albums are consistently successful — especially in England, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967-1986, which made him second to Elvis Presley in terms of number of charting records — he has only had two hit singles with "The Seduction," the theme from American Gigolo (1980) and Biscaya from the album "Biscaya".
He has won numerous polls and prizes, for example Billboard magazine's "Star of the year" trophy in 1976, and has been honored for his lifework with the German ECHO prize in 1994.
The song "The Lonely Shepherd", written by Last and performed by Gheorghe Zamfir and the James Last Orchestra, was featured in the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's film "Kill Bill Vol. 1" (2003).
Personally, he divides his time between Florida and Germany. He gives much credit to his wife and son, who helps with the music.
Last learned how to play piano as child, switching to bass as a teenager. He joined Hans-Gunther Oesterreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra in 1946, when he was 17 years old. In 1948, he became the leader of the Becker-Last Ensemble, which performed for seven years. During that time, he was voted as the best bassist in the country by a German jazz poll for three consecutive years, from 1950-1952. After the disbandment of the Becker-Last Ensemble, he became the in-house arranger for Polydor Records, as well as for a number of European radio stations. For the next decade, he helped arrange hits for artists like Helmut Zacharias and Caterina Valente.
Last released his first album "Non-Stop Dancing" in 1965. The record of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and joyous crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last has released over 190 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varies his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto.
Though his concerts and albums are consistently successful — especially in England, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967-1986, which made him second to Elvis Presley in terms of number of charting records — he has only had two hit singles with "The Seduction," the theme from American Gigolo (1980) and Biscaya from the album "Biscaya".
He has won numerous polls and prizes, for example Billboard magazine's "Star of the year" trophy in 1976, and has been honored for his lifework with the German ECHO prize in 1994.
The song "The Lonely Shepherd", written by Last and performed by Gheorghe Zamfir and the James Last Orchestra, was featured in the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's film "Kill Bill Vol. 1" (2003).
Personally, he divides his time between Florida and Germany. He gives much credit to his wife and son, who helps with the music.
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Geert Van Bommel
My grandfather had his albums and it's how I discovered James Last. My grandfather never made it to a live concert, but I am grateful I did.
Jose Alonso Buitron
Música de calidad y muy alegre. Inmortal HANSI
Norbert Rieger
What a fantastic sound, I like this orchestra
Kimchi
I love this style of music. Only took me 56 years to discover James Last
carol difrancesca
I’m 59 and I just discovered him this week!
evalina Warne
I was 68 when I heard My first songs. I am 69. My parents were FROM GERMANY 🇩🇪. So, all the German songs we knew and danced to when they were alive. Just not to JAMES LAST. How sad. My parents loved music and had a lot of records and cassettes, c.d's.
My dad loved music from most of the world. He gave me this gift of music.
JAMES LAST ICH LIEBE DICH und DANKE. I love you and thanks in German.
Abel Rojas
Gracias por todos los aportes en el arte musical; por compartir esta joya!!
cappy00000
He is just the best! Thanks for haring more of his concerts with us.
All Things Last
My pleasure m8, glad you're enjoying them! :)
cappy00000
Sorry, I should have said "sharing". It's just great to see his BBC shows again.
In the 70s, 80s, 90s we used to see his shows on TV / radio regularly but now no channels show this sort of music anymore.
All we get now is reality crap!