Karel Gott (born July 14, 1939 in Plzeň) is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national poll Český slavík (English: Czech Nightingale) in total thirty-six times. He also gained widespread fame in the German-speaking countries.
Gott was born in Pilsen, at that time Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, now Plzeň, Czech Republic), and has lived in Prague since age 6. He initially wanted to study art, but failed the exams at UMPRUM, the renown School of Industrial Art, upon which he began training as an electrician. On completing his studies, he began working as an electrician, but was soon fascinated by the new types of music flooding the city, and became interested in jazz. He experimented with playing the bass and the guitar, but eventually decided to focus on singing, studying it privately. During the 1950s, he occasionally performed as an amateur singer and often participated in competitions.
