The Most Famous

MUSICIANS from Switzerland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Swiss Musicians. The pantheon dataset contains 3,175 Musicians, 11 of which were born in Switzerland. This makes Switzerland the birth place of the 30th most number of Musicians behind Belgium, and Turkey.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swiss Musicians of all time. This list of famous Swiss Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swiss Musicians.

Photo of Alfred Cortot

1. Alfred Cortot (1877 - 1962)

With an HPI of 63.10, Alfred Cortot is the most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages on wikipedia.

Alfred Denis Cortot (core-TOE; 26 September 1877 – 15 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poetic insight into Romantic piano works, particularly those of Chopin, Franck, Saint-Saëns and Schumann. For Éditions Durand, he edited editions of almost all piano music by Chopin, Liszt and Schumann.A central figure of the French musical culture in his time, he was well known for his piano trio with violinist Jacques Thibaud and cellist Pablo Casals.

Photo of DJ BoBo

2. DJ BoBo (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 56.93, DJ BoBo is the 2nd most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Peter René Baumann (born 5 January 1968), better known under his stage name DJ BoBo, is a Swiss singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and music producer. He has sold 14 million records worldwide and has released 12 studio albums as well as several compilation albums which have included his previous hits in a reworked format. BoBo has also released 34 singles, some of which have charted high not only in German speaking countries, but also in other European territories. As a dance music producer, his first big success came with the single "Somebody Dance with Me", which borrows its melody from Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me". BoBo charted with the singles "Keep on Dancing", "Take Control", "Everybody", "Let the Dream Come True", "Love Is All Around", "Freedom", "Pray", and "What a Feeling", as well as "Chihuahua", almost all of which comprised fast-paced Eurodance sound with female vocals and rap verses performed by BoBo. Between 1992 and 2007, he had 27 single chart hits in Switzerland and Germany and has won ten World Music Awards for being Switzerland's best selling artist. BoBo has received numerous Gold and Platinum certifications for his releases and has found success in Europe (primarily Germany and Switzerland), Canada, Asia, and South America.

Photo of Edwin Fischer

3. Edwin Fischer (1886 - 1960)

With an HPI of 56.26, Edwin Fischer is the 3rd most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century.

Photo of Robert Miles

4. Robert Miles (1969 - 2017)

With an HPI of 55.74, Robert Miles is the 4th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwide.

Photo of Aurèle Nicolet

5. Aurèle Nicolet (1926 - 2016)

With an HPI of 49.46, Aurèle Nicolet is the 5th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Aurèle Nicolet (22 January 1926 – 29 January 2016) was a Swiss flautist. He was considered one of the world's best flute players of the late twentieth century. He performed in various international concerts. A number of composers wrote music especially for him, including Josef Tal, Toru Takemitsu, György Ligeti, Krzysztof Meyer, and Edison Denisov. His pupils include Emmanuel Pahud, Carlos Bruneel, Michael Faust, Pedro Eustache, Thierry Fischer, Irena Grafenauer, Huáscar Barradas, Kristiyan Koev, Jadwiga Kotnowska, Robert Langevin, Tom Ottar Andreassen, Marina Piccinini, Kaspar Zehnder and Ariel Zuckermann. He died at the age of 90 in 2016 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.

Photo of Patrick Moraz

6. Patrick Moraz (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 47.83, Patrick Moraz is the 6th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and the Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age and studied at the Lausanne Conservatory. He began a music career in the 1960s as a jazz musician, performing with his quartet and quintet, groups that performed across Europe and won several awards. He formed the short-lived progressive rock group Mainhorse in 1969, and began work scoring films. In 1974, he formed another band, Refugee, and recorded one album before he joined Yes later the same year. Moraz was a member of Yes until 1976, and during this time he also started a solo career, beginning with the 1976 album The Story of I. Moraz was a member of the Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991. Since then, he has worked on various solo projects.

Photo of George Gruntz

7. George Gruntz (1932 - 2013)

With an HPI of 45.04, George Gruntz is the 7th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, and Mel Lewis.Gruntz, who was born in Basel, Switzerland, was also an accomplished arranger and composer, having been commissioned by many orchestras and symphonies. From 1972 to 1994, he served as artistic director of JazzFest Berlin.He died at the age of 80 in January 2013.

Photo of Urs Bühler

8. Urs Bühler (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 44.80, Urs Bühler is the 8th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Urs Toni Bühler (born 19 July 1971) is a Swiss classically trained tenor. He is a member of the classical crossover group Il Divo, who have sold over 30 million copies worldwide discs.

Photo of Emmanuel Pahud

9. Emmanuel Pahud (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 44.63, Emmanuel Pahud is the 9th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Emmanuel Pahud (born 27 January 1970) is a Franco-Swiss flautist. He was born in Geneva, Switzerland. His father is of French and Swiss background and his mother is French. The Berlin-based flutist is most known for his baroque and classical flute repertoire. Pahud was born into a nonmusical family. As a young boy living in Italy, Pahud was captivated by the sounds of the flute. From the age of four to the age of 22, he was tutored and mentored by flutists such as François Binet, Carlos Bruneel and Aurèle Nicolet. Classically trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he leapt into the international orchestral and solo music scene when he joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992. His versatility in music styles over the years has "signalled the arrival of a new master flautist" (The Guardian). He plays in diverse music genres, whether baroque, jazz, contemporary, classical, orchestral, or chamber music.

Photo of DJ Antoine

10. DJ Antoine (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 41.76, DJ Antoine is the 10th most famous Swiss Musician.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Antoine Konrad (born 23 June 1975), better known as DJ Antoine, is a Swiss house DJ and record producer from Basel.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as Swiss musicians born between 1877 and 1987. Of these 14, 9 (64.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swiss musicians include DJ BoBo, Patrick Moraz, and Urs Bühler. The most famous deceased Swiss musicians include Alfred Cortot, Edwin Fischer, and Robert Miles. As of April 2024, 3 new Swiss musicians have been added to Pantheon including George Gruntz, Daniel Löble, and Thomas Gabriel Fischer.

Living Swiss Musicians

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Deceased Swiss Musicians

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Newly Added Swiss Musicians (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Musicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 5 most globally memorable Musicians since 1700.