AKA Klaus Sperber

Born: 24-Jan-1944
Birthplace: Bavarian Alps, Germany
Died: 6-Aug-1983
Location of death: New York City
Cause of death: AIDS
Remains: Cremated (ashes scattered over New York City)

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Gay
Occupation: Singer

Nationality: Germany
Executive summary: New Wave counter-tenor from Mars

Klaus Sperber moved to New York City from Berlin in 1973, a classically trained tenor and counter-tenor. He worked as a pastry chef until Ann Magnuson heard him sing on a snowbank and asked him to perform at her New Wave Vaudeville show at the Irving Plaza Club. He came out in a transparent tunic and airbrushed make-up, sang an aria from Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah, and Klaus Nomi was born.

Apparently David Bowie saw a film of that performance, and the next thing you know Nomi was singing backup for Bowie on Saturday Night Live. Klaus Nomi's popularity exploded, and he released two albums on RCA, and toured Europe and the United States. His incessant schedule took a toll on his health and he would take massive amounts of antibiotics to keep his voice steady.

Soon after his second album Simple Man was released, Nomi's illness became serious and was he was hospitalized and diagnosed with AIDS in 1983. He was one of the first celebrities to die from the disease.

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Urgh! A Music War (19-Nov-1981) · Himself
    Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)

Is the subject of documentaries:
The Nomi Song, 2004, DETAILS: dir. Andrew Horn

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