Daughter Yvonne about Gunter Gabriel: That’s why nobody could help him

On June 22, 2017, a death notice caused a stir in Germany: country singer Gunter Gabriel died as a result of falling down the stairs. Eleven days earlier, the musician celebrated his 75th birthday. In the 1970s, Gabriel achieved chart success for the first time with the song “He is a guy (Der 30 Tonner Diesel)”. Songs like “Hey Boss, I need more money” and “Come under my blanket” followed.

But the life of the “German Johnny Cash”, as he liked to be called, was marked by some ups and downs. With several divorces, alcohol and money problems, he regularly made the headlines. “He’s the most exciting person I’ve ever met,” says his eldest daughter Yvonne Gabriel, a real cook, in an interview with the news agency spot on news.

“He had a mind of his own”

Gunter Gabriel was a free spirit. “He had his own mind and didn’t let himself be talked into it. He didn’t let any woman or anyone else put him on a leash,” explains Yvonne. It was not until April 2022 that she published her autobiographical book “My Father Gunter: Memorial for a Street Dog” (Rotbuch Verlag) – a memento of her father. What was it like growing up as the daughter of a famous singer? “It was an absolutely wild life,” she admits. Nothing was missing from her childhood.

Gunter Gabriel and her mother separated after eight years of relationship. Yvonne missed her father very much, “and he missed me too”. He had them flown in regularly and took his time for them. “He arranged for the boutiques to be opened for me alone after closing time so that I could shop,” she enthuses. Gabriel fulfilled her every wish. “He attached great importance to my judgment of his new songs.” Even as a small child, he shared new song ideas with her.

But things weren’t always rosy. His life was “totally chaotic”. So women were a problem: “He constantly had new girlfriends and a lot of stress with them.” Papa Gabriel didn’t pay any maintenance, but “if my father had money, everyone had some”.

Gunter Gabriel was not a family man

Gabriel was married four times in his life and left four children. Yvonne only got to know her siblings as a grown woman and only thanks to her own initiative. “My father wasn’t the family man who brings all siblings together.” He didn’t care “wherever he had his children”. The musician is apparently not entirely convinced that she really only has three siblings. “I probably still don’t know them all,” she hints.

In an interview, Gunter Gabriel once described himself as a total failure when it came to his role as a father. When asked about this, his daughter replies dryly: “He flattered himself with that.” As a child, she often wished for a “real bourgeois dad”. “Who is at home on weekends and after work. About whom nothing is in the newspaper.” Only after his death did she realize how “incredibly unique” her father was.

That’s why nobody could help Gunter Gabriel

However, the regular negative headlines affected family life. They were always prepared for exciting press reports, she admits in an interview. Yvonne often picked up the phone and asked her father: “Can’t you stop it?” But she knew that this would not change anything about his behavior. “My father always said: ‘Better bad press than none at all!” Why nobody could help him out of the maelstrom of alcohol addiction and financial difficulties? “Someone who doesn’t seek help doesn’t get any,” says his eldest daughter. However, she also believes that many people wish “to let the sow out like my father did”.

Yvonne not only inherited her musical talent from her father. Gabriel also “always pushed and motivated” her. He was distinguished by his “tremendous will to live and an infinite joie de vivre”. “When my father walked into the room, people would hold their breath – he had an incredible presence.” Her father’s death took her by surprise. But “it was absolutely clear to me that he will always live on in me”.