Family is the greatest asset for Roland Kaiser (70).
So it’s wonderful that the superstar (more than 90 million records sold) always has his family with him at work: wife Silvia, daughter Annalena, band, choir singers, photographer, driver, stagehand…
“You are all my family, my home. When I go on tour, I take them all with me. We are a family business. Each individual is jointly responsible for my success. I’m grateful for that,” says Roland Kaiser to BILD am SONNTAG.
2020: Roland Kaiser with his wife Silvia (left) and daughter Annalena (24) in the Berlin Waldbühne
On May 10, the gentleman of German Schlager and pop music celebrates his 71st birthday, ten days later his “Alles OK!” Open Air Tour starts. In July/August there is also the so-called Kaisermania in Dresden, every evening has long been sold out.
“I still love touring, actually more than ever,” he says. “It makes me happy when there are people who enjoy my music. Every tour is different, we always come up with something new.”
Hundreds of thousands flock to the “Kaisermania” on the banks of the Elbe in Dresden every year
time to say thank you Roland Kaiser is now giving his fans, his musicians, his family and himself a very personal gift: “Live – Das Roadbook” (272 pages, 32 euros), an emotional Kaiser concert in book form, with many photos and little secrets from his Tour everyday life.
“It’s often less comfortable than you think,” says Kaiser. “We often only have containers behind the stage for cloakroom and catering. That’s where our life takes place. We all eat together. My technicians set up the ergometer so that I can exercise.”
SHE is his rock in the surf behind the scenes
An hour and a half before the concert begins, the singer pedals on his home trainer. “After that, my makeup artist tries to salvage what can be salvaged. Before I go on stage, my wife makes sure I look neat. Silvia is the head of my office, taking care of everything behind the scenes. We are together 24/7 and enjoying it.”
Silvia Kaiser (57) sits next to her husband, he smiles at her and says: “We have been happily married for 27 years. Nothing fits between us. Our partnership is becoming more and more unbreakable. Together we survived my illness COPD and the lung transplant. In such situations, marriages break down or become more and more intense. Silvia is everything to me.”
Silvia Kaiser keeps modestly in the background, although as office manager she is involved in everything. “Where I can, I try to support Roland,” she says.
2019: The couple relaxes backstage
“My claim is that my husband goes on stage perfectly. That’s why I help with the wardrobe. I choose a suit, waistcoat, shirt, tie, shoes, cufflinks, handkerchief, have everything ready.”
She keeps a file of what Roland Kaiser wears when and where on which stage and puts the finishing touches on it with a lint brush. “Roland wants to look correct in public. This is his way, his style and also an expression of his respect for his audience.”
Anyone who experiences the couple together will see the loving looks, the little tenderness. She is his dream woman, “without Silvia I would not have been so successful for so long. I love her, she loves me. We love our children and grandchildren. That’s what life is all about,” he says.
In the book she describes her worries during his illness.
“No one could have guessed that my husband would make such a brilliant comeback. The fact that after this extreme experience, this moment between life and death, he reinvented himself and is today more successful than ever is an unbelievable achievement. I admire him for that. (…) Today I know how fragile things are.”
The couple enjoy touring together. “We collect memories together,” says Roland Kaiser. There are little rituals about how they take their home with them when they travel. Roland Kaiser: “I have the ‘Hörzu’ with me. I’ve been reading them for fifty years, and I don’t want to break with this tradition. I don’t want a digital subscription, I want a magazine that you can touch. I am a Keeper on that point.”
His wife “always has my Tempur pillow with her. And a small kettle, tea and two cups so we can make tea anywhere.”
The life of a star can be so wonderfully normal.
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.
