Falco was the most popular Austrian solo artist throughout the 1980s. His song "
Rock Me Amadeus" reached number one of the
Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. His sudden death in 1998 in the
Dominican Republic catapulted his music from the 1980s once again into the spotlight. Although Austria is not exactly the biggest exporter of international rock and pop-bands, there are a few notable musicians and bands.
Opus also made it in the charts worldwide as well. In the last few years, several music groups toured Europe and had commercial success in the international charts. The most prominent being
Christina Stürmer.
SheSays, who supported
Bryan Adams on his European tour and some other bands like
Cornerstone, are notable for their recent contributions. The bands
Wanda and
Bilderbuch became successful in the 2010s.
Soap&Skin has found international recognition as well, being known for her contributions to the score of the
Netflix-series
Dark, among other things. Blackened
death metal trio
Belphegor currently leads the Austrian metal scene, which also includes
Hollenthon,
Pungent Stench,
Abigor,
Disharmonic Orchestra,
Visions of Atlantis,
Dornenreich,
Summoning and Estatic Fear.
Christian Fennesz is an Austrian electronic musician. Other electronic musicians who call Austria home include
Der Blutharsch, active in the
Neofolk scene, as are
Sturmpercht. Drummer
Thomas Lang was born in Vienna in 1967, and has played with artists such as
Robert Fripp,
Geri Halliwell and
Robbie Williams. One of the few international touring bands is
Killed By 9V Batteries and
Gasmac Gilmore from Vienna. Yearly the Waves Vienna Music Festival & Conference takes place in October. This festival is a showcase festival for European pop music acts. ==Classical music==