In an interview, Schlager star Howard Carpendale spoke about the early loss of his family and his attitude towards death.
In songs like “Hello again” or “You’re still here,” pop star Howard Carpendale (78) repeatedly strikes extremely melancholic and sometimes deeply sad tones. In an interview, the singer spoke about how much the early loss of his closest family members shaped his life and how this affected his songs.
Carpendale, who was born in Durban in 1946, first reflected on his happy childhood in South Africa. “My childhood was actually a dream,” said the singer. “Apart from apartheid in our country. Luckily, as a little boy I had no idea what that meant.”
“I need harmony around me”
However, he was troubled by the regular arguments between his parents, who often didn’t speak to each other for days. He is all the happier that there are almost never any arguments between him and his wife Donnice, with whom he has been together since 1983 and married since 2018. “I need harmony around me,” says Carpendale. Therefore, it is always he who makes “the beginning of reconciliation”.
“My whole family is no longer alive”
A harmonious coexistence is so important to him, not least because he was confronted with strokes of fate and dramatic farewells in his family early on. “My whole family is no longer alive,” reported the pop star. “They all died young, except for my mother. My father at the age of 59. Anne, my sister who was four years older than me, suffered from diabetes and only lived to be 45. Jean, who was eight years older than me, broke herself in a car accident the neck.”
He still has a “healthy attitude towards death,” said Carpendale. “For me it’s part of life, and I also talk about saying goodbye in many of my songs.” He couldn’t talk openly about this difficult topic with his wife Donnice. “She doesn’t want to hear about it and can’t bear the thought that I could die before her. We have become one in our 41 years together.”
Howie isn’t afraid of dying
He’s not afraid of dying himself, he’s just worried about how his wife would cope with going on without him. But here too he tends to have an optimistic attitude: “Luckily there are my two sons, their loved ones and my grandson. They will look after Donnice. We are all very close.”
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
