Tommy Heart

In 1982, the spark to Tommy Heart’s remarkable singing career was ignited while playing in a West-Berlin school band. It was his very first attempt trying to escape the ghetto in Gropiusstadt (part of Berlin) and establish an existence away from difficult everyday life.
Tommy’s youth was affected by the typical troubles of life such as delinquency, drug abuse, violence and the laws of the street.
A first real chance was given to him in 1988 when he signed his first contract with the renowned Heavy Metal label Noise Records – his band at that time: V2. When V2 blasted off with their first self-titled album, they soon found themselves supporting German hotshots and label mates Helloween who were at the commercial peak of their carreer having just released their hugely successful effort “Keeper Of The Seven Keys II”. Still on tour in Europe, Tommy was invited by legendary guitarist Zeno Roth and his band Zeno to put his vocal prowess to the test.
American label Geffen Records – home to many unforgotten rock heroes such as Elton John, Cher, Michael Bolton, Aerosmith, Nirvana or Guns N’ Roses – offered a future-proof collaboration.
This liason led to a great deal of showcases and brought the band in touch with American manager Tom Zutaut being personally responsible for the success of bands like Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Tesla. Then in 1989, Zeno Roth suprisingly decided to back down from music business.
In the same year Tommy and the rest of Zeno’s band, Ule W. Ritgen and CC Behrens, laid the foundation for the exceptional Fair Warning. After recording a couple of demos the band received many offers from major labels and eventually opted for WEA. In 1992 the self-titled debut made quite an impact on the Japanese market which resulted in outstanding sales figures. The band even was invited to tour the land of the rising sun; something rather unusual for a newcomer band and, after all was awarded the „Brightest Hope Award 1992“ by the readers of Japanese metal bible Burrn!
In 1993 Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth – one of the world’s most influential sixstringers – worked on a performance of the „Symphonic Rock For Europe“ concert. Roth accompanied the Symphonic Orchestra Brussels on guitar interpreting various classical pieces. For the concert that was eventually aired by WDR-Rockpalast, Tommy took over the role of the lead vocalist from Cream icon and frontman Jack Bruce at short notice. This collaboration later continued in form of the 1995 epic “Sky Of Avalon” and was welcomed by media and fans alike. Moreover, Tommy participated in a singing contest organized by Gillette. He was finally chosen from 300 contestants to sing their theme song „Gillette – für das Beste im Mann“. Thanks to Tommy’s distintive and unmistakable voice, sales figures skyrocketed. Nonetheless, Tommy stayed true to himself as he knew that an even bigger success was to follow: the second Fair Warning album “Rainmaker” sold 65.000 units solely on the day of release and went straight up the charts.
Two weeks later the boys from Hanover received a gold award – another successful tour followed shortly after. The 1997 follow-up “Go!” again went gold and won the poll for “Album Of The Year”. In Europe the band played live with big names such as Status Quo, C.C.R. or Saga and continued to expand their fanbase. In 1998 the amazingly executed live album “Live & More” was issued and the band once again toured Asia – an exceptional event in which Tommy again proved that he belonged to the ranks of the top singers and performers – just listen to the middle part of Fair Warning’s live classic “Don’t Give Up” which is sung without any musical accompaniment.