Memorial Page for Jack White (née Horst Nußbaum)

Jack White (born Horst Nußbaum; 2 September 1940 in Cologne – October 2025 in Berlin) was a German record producer, composer and lyricist. Before he moved behind the mixing desk, he played football, last as a professional with PSV Eindhoven. He produced German Schlager hits such as Schöne Maid and Fußball ist unser Leben as well as international successes such as Laura Branigan's Gloria and Self Control. He wrote the music for Looking for Freedom himself, the song that took David Hasselhoff to the top of the German charts in 1989.

Childhood in Cologne

Horst Nußbaum grew up in poor circumstances in Cologne, the son of a butcher. While still at school he delivered bread rolls and newspapers every morning, and he later said that those years had shaped him.

A footballer between Cologne, Pirmasens and Eindhoven

In Cologne, the coach Hennes Weisweiler spotted his talent for football. From 1961 to 1963 Nußbaum played for Viktoria Köln in the Oberliga West, then for FK Pirmasens and TSC Zweibrücken in the Regionalliga. For the 1965/66 season he moved to the Dutch Eredivisie, joining PSV Eindhoven. He remained attached to the Palatinate and once said that Pirmasens would always stay in his heart.

From singer to producer

In 1966 Hans Bertram, the producer of Roy Black, offered him a recording contract. Nußbaum ended his career as a professional footballer and took on a new name as a singer: Jack White. His first single was Ein paar Tränen.

After his time in Eindhoven he settled in West Berlin, where he ran a discotheque. He released around fifteen records as a singer before confining himself to composing and producing. He began producing records himself in 1968, and his first major success came in 1969, when his artist Roberto Blanco won the Deutscher Schlagerwettbewerb, a German song contest, with Heute so, morgen so.

Schlager of the 1970s and a World Cup song

For Tony Marshall he produced Schöne Maid in 1971; the record credits him as writer and producer. In 1972 came Eine neue Liebe ist wie ein neues Leben for Jürgen Marcus, which he wrote with Fred Jay and produced. For Jürgen Marcus he also composed Luxembourg's entry at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, Chansons pour ceux qui s’aiment. During the 1970s he also worked with Lena Valaitis and Andrea Jürgens.

For the 1974 World Cup on home soil he wrote and produced Fußball ist unser Leben for the West German national team. Franz Beckenbauer and his teammates sang on the record themselves. The song began the national team's tradition of World Cup songs.

Gloria, Self Control and success in America

From 1982 Jack White produced the first four albums of the American singer Laura Branigan. Her version of Gloria, written by Umberto Tozzi, Giancarlo Bigazzi and Trevor Veitch, reached No. 2 on the US charts in 1982. Self Control, written by Raffaele Riefoli, Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo, followed in 1984. It spent six weeks at No. 1 in Germany and reached No. 4 in the United States.

Also released in 1984 was When the Rain Begins to Fall, a duet by Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora that he produced; it spent four weeks at No. 1 in Germany. As a producer he also worked with Barry Manilow, Audrey Landers, Anne Murray, Engelbert and Paul Anka. After his death, Laura Branigan's official website wrote: “White's iconic collaborations with Laura are central to his legacy, as well as hers.”

Looking for Freedom

Jack White wrote the music for Looking for Freedom, with English lyrics by Gary Cowtan. The first version, by Marc Seaberg, entered the German charts in 1978. In 1988 a new recording by David Hasselhoff, produced by White, was released on the White Records label, and in 1989 it spent eight weeks at No. 1 in Germany. White went on to produce further records for Hasselhoff.

Tennis Borussia and women's football

In Berlin, Jack White kept playing as an amateur, for Tennis Borussia. In 1969 he became the first coach of the club's newly founded women's team, a year before the German Football Association lifted its ban on women's football. The newspaper taz called him a pioneer of women's football in Germany. He returned his former players' praise, saying that they had been a great team.

After German reunification he took over as the club's president. Tennis Borussia won promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 1992/93, and White left the club in 1997. In its obituary, the broadcaster rbb counted him among the most fascinating figures in Berlin football over the past five decades.

Later years

From the mid-1990s Jack White also produced records for Hansi Hinterseer. His autobiography, Mein unglaubliches Leben, was published in 2010. In 2014 Jack White announced that he would retire from the music business.

Farewell

Jack White died in Berlin in October 2025, at the age of 85. He was regarded as one of Germany's most successful music producers. In another obituary, rbb wrote that reducing Jack White to beer-tent music would be too narrow a view. He himself once said that there were many, many evergreens that people sang again and again without knowing that they had come from his pen. Laura Branigan's website said goodbye to him with the words: “Thank you, Jack, for the melodies and the memories.”