Holger Czukay

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022

Holger Czukay (/ˈʃʊkaɪ/, Holger Schüring; 24 March 1938 – 5 September 2017) was a German musician. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). He was probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Czukay was also known for having created early important examples of ambient music, for having explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and for having been a pioneer of sampling.

Czukay was found dead at his apartment in Weilerswist, Germany on 5 September 2017 at the age of 79.

Death

On September 5, 2017, Czukay was found dead by a neighbor in the "Can-Studio" in Weilerswist near Cologne, a former cinema that he also used as an apartment. His wife Ursula had just died on July 28, her 55th birthday. Czukay was buried next to her at Cologne's Melaten Cemetery on September 14, 2017. The grave in plot "T" is diagonally opposite that of drummer and Can bandmate Jaki Liebezeit, who had died of pneumonia on 22 January 2017.

Graves of Holger Czukay and his wife Ursula at the Cologne Melaten Cemetery

Mourning arrangement of the record label Rough Trade Records on the grave of Czukay

Holger Czukay Award for Pop Music of the City of Cologne

In June 2019, it was announced that the City of Cologne's pop music prize, which will be offered for the first time this year and endowed with 15,000 euros, is to be named after Czukay. According to the council bill, this is intended to honour Czukay's legacy; the name is intended to place future prize winners "in a connection with the extraordinary work of this artist" and at the same time help to raise the prize's profile beyond the region. The prize will be awarded to individuals, bands or institutions that have rendered outstanding services to the city's pop music scene.

The first prize winners were announced on 11 September 2019, and the prizes were awarded on 31 October: The main prize of 15,000 euros was awarded to musician and artist Wolfgang Voigt, the honorary prize to CAN founding member Irmin Schmidt.

For 2020, the jury awarded the main prize to the artist duo Mouse on Mars: "Mouse on Mars are among the few experimental German pop artists who are noticed internationally (...), but regularly return to Cologne." The honorary prize will be awarded to the electro-disco formation Gina X Performance (en) for their life's work. The award ceremony will again take place on 31 October.