At the beginning of his life, Karel Gott did not even think about a career as a singer. However, the circumstances did not work out as planned by the young man. Providence was pleased to lead him on its own route.
Childhood and youth
Nature endows every person with different abilities. It is very important that talent is revealed in a timely manner. The biography of Karel Gott clearly confirms this rule. The future singer and musician was born on July 14, 1939. He was the only child in an ordinary Czech family. Parents lived in the small town of Pilsen in the west of the Czech Republic. When the war began, fleeing the bombing, the Gott family moved to the village to stay with relatives. And only in 1946 they managed to move to Prague, where they found modest housing.
From an early age, Karel showed versatile talents. He studied well at school. He liked singing lessons. Already in the elementary grades, he was invited to the school choir classes. In addition, the boy was fond of drawing. Parents strongly encouraged this hobby and even bought him an easel. As a ten-year-old child, Karel drew a very high-quality copy from a painting by the famous artist Botticelli. After graduating from school, he decided to enter the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. However, he failed to pass the creative competition. With the disorder, the young man entered a vocational school to get the specialty of an electrician.
Professional activity
After graduating from vocational school, Gott got a job at a tram depot. In the evenings after work he sang in an amateur ensemble. Sometimes he was invited to work in a restaurant. It was good practice for a beginner performer. In 1958, Karel took part in a television competition called the Search for New Talents. He did not make it to the number of winners. However, the promising guy was noticed by a famous producer. An experienced mentor advised the singer to perform on the stage of the Vltava Praha restaurant as part of a professional orchestra.
In 1959, Gott entered the conservatory. Here I received the necessary training and, which is very important, they gave him a voice. In the early sixties, a twist conquered Prague. Karel, as they say, caught the wave. The songs performed by him became hits the same day they sounded from the stage or on TV. It is important to note that Karel had more than just a unique voice. The singer had a phenomenal memory. He toured extensively across countries and continents. In the Soviet Union, France, Germany and the United States, the singer performed songs in the native language of the audience.
Recognition and privacy
The work of the singer and composer was appreciated by grateful spectators and officials. Karel Gott has received the Czech Nightingale, the highest music award, more than forty times. He has written over two thousand songs and musical compositions.
Karel's personal life has developed well. He married the only time when he was a mature man. The wife of Ivan Makhachkov is 36 years younger than him. The husband and wife raised two daughters. Two more illegitimate daughters have always received the support of their father. The singer died in October 2019 after a serious cancer.
