June 9th, 2025 marks 10 years since the passing of German band leader James Last. For many years he was the leader of his own band, the James Last Orchestra after starting out as a jazz bassist.

Mr. Last remains on the Royal Albert Hall’s list as making the second most number of appearances at the venue, with 90 concerts, only behind Eric Clapton.

He would sell more than 200 albums, with 200 gold and 14 platinum discs in Germany alone during his career.

Mr. Last was born Hans Last on April 17th, 1929 in Bremen, Germany to Louis and Martha Last and had two older brothers, both musicians in their own right, Robert Last and Werner Last (known professionally as Kai Warner.)

He would make many concert tours over almost half a century, wrapping up his last tour in Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 26 April 2015, less than two months prior to his death.

Mr. Last was married twice, and had a son and daughter.

I grew up listening to James Last thanks to the husband of my former babysitter who was a fan and I ended up being a fan too, and have several of his CDs. His upbeat versions of the tunes were always lively and very enjoyable.

He passed away, from an undisclosed illness, on June 9th, 2015.

Here are some excerpts of his performances: