Pierre Kartner, The Smurfs musician better known as Father Abraham, dies aged 87-Kim Novak-Entertainment – Metro

Pierre Kartner, aka Father Abraham, has died (Picture: Peter Bischoff/Getty Images)

Pierre Kartner, a Dutch musician better known as Father Abraham, has died at the age of 87.

The musician, singer-songwriter and record producer had sold around 17million copies of his songs for The Smurfs. 

Kartner had worked on the beloved cartoon series from 1977 until 2005, with the theme song Au Pays Des Schtroumpfs, also known as the Smurf Song, becoming a worldwide hit. 

Also a successful composer and producer, Kartner had written over 1600 songs throughout his career, earning him 127 gold records.

Born in the Netherlands, Kartner’s singing career began at the age of eight when he won a local festival. 

He was part of the band Corry & de Rekels, selling over a million records in the 1960s.

The entertainer was known as Father Abraham and his trademark look included a beard and bowler hat (Picture: Peter Bischoff/Getty Images)

Kartner created his alter-ego of Father Abraham in 1971 after writing a Dutch carnival song called Father Abraham Had Seven Sons.

He had initially worn a fake beard for the character but later grew a real one after that and his bowler hat became his trademark look.

Kartner was asked to make a promotional song about The Smurfs in 1977, but only 1,000 copies of the single were initially pressed, all of which sold out in one day at a Schlager festival.

Following a repress, 400,000 copies of the song were quickly sold, with a full Smurfs album following it selling 500,000 copies and going to number one in 16 countries.

As well as the Smurfs theme tune, Kartner also wrote the music for the opening and closing credits on the Japanese cartoon adaption of the 1990 TV series Moomin.

Kartner leaves behind his wife Annie and son Walter, according to reports from omroepbrabant.nl.

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