Peter Hofmann

Hofmann's busy and demanding schedule in combination with an "imperfect vocal technique", led to intermittent vocal problems which became more prominent in the singer's opera performances in the late 1980s. These difficulties led him to completely abandon his opera career in 1989 in favor of pursuing a full-time career in popular music. Hofmann had already spent portions of his opera career performing and recording popular music, and he had already achieved success with tours and recordings of classic rock during the mid to late 1980s. He continued to perform pop and rock songs until his retirement from performance for health reasons in 1999. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1994.

• Name — Peter Hofmann • Born — 22 August 1944 • Birthplace — Marienbad • Died — 30 November 2010 • Place of death — Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany • Occupation — * Operatic tenor • Pop singer • Organizations — Bayreuth Festival

Hofmann was born in Marienbad, German Sudetenland (now Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic), and grew up in Darmstadt. In his youth, before receiving any training in classical music, he was a singer in a rock band. He was a youth decathlon competitor and served seven years in the Bundeswehr, during which time he began studying singing privately. After being honorably discharged with a financial bonus, he entered the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe where he was trained as an opera singer. |

Hofmann made his professional opera debut in 1972 as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at Theater Lübeck. He first appeared as Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walküre, to become his signature role, at the Wuppertal Opera in 1974. It was as Siegmund that Hofmann first drew international acclaim when he performed the role in the historic Jahrhundertring (Centenary Ring) at the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, celebrating the centenary of both the festival and the first performance of the complete Ring cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez and staged by Patrice Chéreau, recorded and filmed in 1979 and 1980. He also performed in Bayreuth as Tristan in Tristan und Isolde (1986), Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1988). and the title heroes in Parsifal (both 1976 and 1978) and Lohengrin (1979 and 1982), He subsequently appeared in Stuttgart, Paris, Vienna, London, Chicago, and San Francisco. He was best known for singing Wagnerian tenor roles. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera from 1980 to 1988, in Lohengrin, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger and Die Walküre.

At the same time as singing classic roles in opera, Hofmann was also busy performing and recording popular music. He performed concerts of Elvis Presley songs and other classic rock songs on tour across Europe. He made a number of pop albums which sold well in Europe such as Rock Classics (1982) and Love Me Tender: Peter Hofmann Sings Elvis Presley (1992). In 1987, Hallmark released Songs for the Holidays, an album featuring Hofmann and his wife Deborah Sasson née O'Brien, who was Miss Massachusetts in 1971. By the late 1980s, Hofmann had abandoned opera completely in favour of musical theatre. From 1990 to 1991, he played the title role in The Phantom of the Opera, in the original Hamburg production, making 300 appearances in the show. He also hosted a TV show in Germany.

Hofmann was married to Deborah Sasson from 1983 to 1990 and to Sabine Zimmerer from 2007 to 2010. His divorce cost him a fortune, and he lived the last years of his life in relative poverty. Hofmann moved to Bayreuth and spent his time writing his autobiography and supporting research through the Peter Hofmann Parkinson Project. After battling Parkinson's disease for more than a decade, he died of pneumonia in November 2010 at the age of 66.