Rio Reiser

Rio Reiser, born Ralph Christian Möbius, in Berlin 1950, was a German singer/songwriter, poet, actor, and activist. His father Herbert Möbius was an engineer for Siemens AG, and the family moved several times because of his father's work; they lived in West Berlin, Upper Bavaria, Nuremberg, Mannheim, and Fellbach. His mother Erika supported and recognized her youngest sons artistic talents and allowed him to quite school for an apprenticeship in a photo-studio, which became short-lived but instead led on to Cello studies at the Offenbach Music Conservatory, and later in 1966 he met drummer/guitarist Ralph Peter Steitz, a.k.a. R.P.S. Lanrue) and formed the group Beat Kings. In 1967 they both moved to West Berlin, where Ralph Christian Möbius sought out and lived with his two older brothers, Gert and Peter. In Berlin he first joined the Hoffmann's Comic Teater as a musician and later the improvisation drama group Rote Steine. This excursion into the world of social theater eventually led to the formation of the alternative folk/rock group Ton Steine Scherben. They lived on for 15 years, recording, touring, and politically active on the left wing. During these years Ralph Christian Möbius became Rio Reiser when he in 1977 was offered a leading role in the feature film "Johnny West". He re-activated his nickname Rio from his teens and added Reiser from Karl Philipp Moritz's autobiographical novel "Anton Reiser". In 1985, Rio Reiser and Ton Steine Scherben finally split. He was soon offered a record deal by CBS and released his solo album "Rio 1" in November 1986, produced by Annette Humpe, from the group Ideal. For ten intensive years Rio Reiser enjoyed enormous success and appreciation in Germany. During those years he also appeared in a handful of feature films and a large number of television productions. Rio Reiser died on August 20, 1996 at the age of 46. The cause of death was diagnosed as bleeding from the varicose veins in the esophagus.