Klaus was born in the north of Berlin and grew up in the suburbs in a well guarded Doctor's family as one of six brothers. There was always a flair of "art" around - classical music, paintings, good books - and a feeling for history and tradition. A joint decision was made by his family for him to study not music, but commercial art in Berlin at the "Meisterschule für Grafik und Buchgewerbe".

He soon moved to Hamburg to continue studies at the "Meisterschule für Gestaltung". Early on, before his graphic education was concluded, Klaus was thrown into working as a commercial artist in various forms: as layout, graphic designer, illustrator. Klaus was employed by fashion magazines, advertising agencies and art studios.

"One day, after having a minor argument with my girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr, I was wandering through the St.Pauli district of Hamburg and was suddenly attracted by the sound of Rock and Roll music. It was Rory Storm and the Hurricanes at the Kaiserkeller. The next group to appear were The Beatles. I was speechless!"

The urge to live and work in England became stronger and stronger for Klaus. Right in the middle of Beatlemania, George and Ringo invited him to London, to stay with them in their apartment on Green Street, until he found employment as a commercial artist and an apartment of my own. He found both, but it didn't last for long, because then "Rock`n`Roll really hit me!"

In 1963 Klaus returned to Hamburg, where he joined his first band, Paddy, Klaus & Gibson. They played regularly at the German Star Clubs and soon Klaus was back in London, but this time as a musician.

In 1965, Right in the middle of his music career, Klaus was asked to jump back into the "world of graphics". He got the offer to design the "Revolver" cover for the Beatles. He ultimately received a Grammy for his efforts.

In 1965-68, Klaus played in the band "Manfred Mann ". They had countless hits, which followed each other like pearls on a string.

In 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono started the "Plastic Ono Band " and they choose Klaus as their bass player. The only live performance they ever did was the concert "Live Peace in Toronto" with Eric Clapton and Alan White. Soon after, Klaus began more work as a session musician for many different artists

Klaus soon became known as an outstanding studio musician and recorded for several well know acts.

It was always more like a bunch of good friends, looking forward to meet on the next production. It was exciting to play in the studio with the likes of B.B. King , Jerry Lee Lewis, Harry Nilsson and Carly Simon . George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass"-LP was a great success. Following that was the Concert For Bangladesh. I was proud and happy to be part of an event with great artists like Bob Dylan , Ravi Shankar , Eric Clapton and other wonderful people. I also got another Grammy-Award for it ...my second!

1973 -79 L.A. became my new home. I met up with great musicians and very special people like The Band, Van Dyke Parks, Phil Spector, Jim Keltner, Jesse Ed Davis, Ry Cooder, Larry Carlton, to name but a few. Just before the end of my musical activities in the States, I had a very special encounter. I played on Randy Newman´s Short People LP. The "icing" of my musical cake was being asked to join Dr. John (Mac Rebenak) and his band. How can you top that!

In 1983-88, Klaus tried my luck with producing records. The first band he produced was completely unknown, a German group called"Trio". DA DA DA ended up selling over five million records.

In 1990, The idea to do a book about the "Hamburg Days" of the Beatles, as remembered by Jürgen Vollmer, Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus came up. It covers the years from 1960 to 62, the time when the Beatles lost their "musical virginity" Bit by bit Klaus finished the "Hamburg Days"-paintings which recreate many of the scenes from Hamburg which were not previously documented.

In 1996, Neil Aspinal, of Apple Records, asked Klaus to create an image for the "Beatles Anthology Project ". In competition with seven other artists He got the job and did the final artwork with his friend Alfons Kiefer.

Klaus still lives and works in Germany as a successful commercial artist.

Copyright 1999/2000, Genesis Publications.

Klaus Voormann Artwork on our site