Edgar Froese

German artist and electronic music pioneer, born June 6, 1944 in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad region, Russia; died January 20, 2015, Vienna, Austria). Father of Jerome Froese.
His father and some of his relatives were killed by the Nazi-regime, and him and his mother fled to Berlin after WWII. Edgar had to work from the age of 15. He was a artistically gifted young man and at the age of 18, he was accepted by the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, where he learned painting, graphics and sculpturing. To earn the money for his studies, he worked as author, actor and creator of advertisements. He wanted to become pianist, but learns to play guitar. He ended his studies in 1966.
Before he did so, he began his musical career in 1965 with a short-lived rock group known as [a423311]. After the group's disbanding in 1967, Froese co-founded [a=Tangerine Dream] within the same year. The band started to play live concerts in 1968, but Froese cancelled the group in 1969 for a six month hiatus. Eventually, he asked Klaus Schulze and Steve Jolliffe to join him and reactivated the band. After Jolliffe left the band in 1970, [a17135] replaced him. In 1970, the band gained its first record contract and the debut album was released the same year.
They recorded four albums and were then signed in 1974 by Virgin in UK.
The same year, Froese released his first solo album, many more would follow in the nexrt years. In the early 1980's, he also started to compose soundtracks and scores.
After decades, and a myriad of compositions, Froese remained the only original member of the band. He was married to [a=Monique Froese] from 1970 until her death in 2000; he later married Bianca Acquaye.