Five years of „Art Garfunkel Jr. Wie Du“ – from birthday gift to successful debut album
On October 22, 2021, „Wie Du – Hommage an meinen Vater“, the debut album by Art Garfunkel Jr., was released. Five years later, on October 22, 2026, this album represents a special milestone: it marks the beginning of his solo career and at the same time the kick-off of his own musical path, which is closely connected to his father's repertoire and history.
Art Garfunkel Jr. had been carrying the idea for such an album with him for some time. For the 80th birthday of his father Art Garfunkel, the fitting occasion finally arose to put it into action. He selected songs from his father's musical repertoire and developed them into a personal tribute and at the same time his first own solo album.
For the recordings, Art Garfunkel Jr. brought in prominent support from Germany and even from the Netherlands. Together with various artists, new interpretations of well-known songs from his father's repertoire were created. The album combines the German and English languages and relies on the musical encounter of different voices.
Art Garfunkel himself played a special role in this. He also participated in the recordings, but at that time did not know what the individual recordings were to be used for. Art Garfunkel Jr. initially kept the actual purpose secret, so that his father only learned later that an album as a surprise for his 80th birthday had been created from it.
Particularly personal are the joint recordings of father and son. „Raum des Schweigens“, „Der Condor zieht“, and „Geh mit mir durch den Regenbogen“ belong to the titles that Art Garfunkel Jr. interprets together with his father. Thus, Art Garfunkel's musical history and the beginning own path of his son meet directly.
However, „Wie Du“ was not only a personal project. The debut album immediately also found attention with the audience and developed further in the German album charts over several weeks. It first entered at number 59 and climbed 31 places to number 28 already in the following week. In the further course, „Wie Du – Hommage an meinen Vater“ finally reached number 10 of the German album charts. In total, the album remained represented in the German album charts for 29 weeks.
With this, a new phase of his musical career began for Art Garfunkel Jr. „Wie Du“ was his debut as a solo artist and gave him the opportunity to introduce himself to a larger audience with his own project. At the same time, the connection to his father remained a central component of the album – not only through the selection of the songs, but also through the joint recordings.
The special genesis makes „Wie Du“ an important chapter in the musical biography of Art Garfunkel Jr. to this day. From an idea that had already matured in him for a longer time, a concrete album project became reality on the occasion of his father's 80th birthday. From this, a German-English hybrid emerged, which brought together artists from various musical fields and put Art Garfunkel Jr. in the center as a solo artist for the first time.
On October 22, 2026, the release of „Wie Du – Hommage an meinen Vater“ marks its fifth anniversary. Five years after its release, the album thus stands for the beginning of a solo career and for the moment when a long-cherished musical idea became an own album.
