Death of Swiss rock pioneer Hardy Hepp
According to a statement by pop journalist Sam Mumenthaler, Swiss rock pioneer Hardy Hepp has died at the age of 82.
Hepp, who grew up as the son of a concert singer and a secondary school teacher in Rüti in the Zurich Oberland, produced Switzerland's first pop album with the group Les Sauterelles. From 1968, he hosted «Hits à Gogo», the first pop music program on Swiss television. In the same year, he founded the group Krokodil with drummer Düde Dürst. He went on to work with everyone who was anyone in the Swiss jazz and rock scene.
Hepp was also a pioneer of the ecological movement: in 1987, he was one of the co-founders of the Green Movement, a forerunner of the Green Party in Graubünden. In 1991, he founded the legendary Hepp Choir, in which Dodo Hug and Vera Kaa, among others, also sang. After 2011, he ended his career on stage and as a recording director. He has now died in Frauenfeld hospital after prolonged health problems.
