Musician and Artist. He is best known for his work with the group Tangerine Dream, which he founded. Born in East Prussia during the latter days of World War II, he and his mother fled to Berlin. His father and some relatives had been killed by the Nazis, and as his family had lost everything when his home town was annexed to the Soviet Union, he had to begin working at the age of 15. He received a scholarship to the Berlin Academy of Art at the age of 18, where he studied the graphic arts, painting, and sculpture. He supplemented this by working as a graphic artist for a number of ad agencies, in particular advertising signs for the Berlin bus system. He left the school over a dispute about his artistic vision which did not match that of his teachers. He self-taught himself guitar and had already formed his first band in 1962, while still a student. In 1965, he founded the band "The Ones", which led him to a meeting with Salvador Dali in 1967 which influenced his life and art, as the group was invited to play a number of house concerts at Dali's home. They had one hit: "Lady Greengrass/Love of Mine". In 1967, he formed Tangerine Dream. He greatly influenced their style. They were early proponents of what was later called "krautrock" and are best known for their forays into electronic music and electronica. At least 100 albums and soundtracks, most instrumental, were the result, including soundtracks for "Risky Business", "Sorcerer", "Thief", "Miracle Mile", and "Das Boot". The album Phaedra (1974) was one of Virgin Records first hits and is a seminal work. They were regular performers in concert. He also had a solo career of note, and used his art to design, with his first wife, many of the album covers for the group. He was noted for inventing many new instruments and modifying existing ones and was also known as one of the first to sample sounds to add to his music. In 2013, he took a fall on the ice and suffered head injuries and was in a coma for some time. He never fully recovered and died from a pulmonary embolism.