Editing David Hasselhoff (section)

==Music career==

===1970s===

On February 2, 1977, David Hasselhoff made his musical debut on ''[[The Merv Griffin Show]]'' performing "[[Nadia's Theme]]", the theme song from the American television soap opera ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'', the show in which Hasselhoff was starring at the time. Ten years later his version of the song was included on his second album ''[[Lovin' Feelings]]'' (1987).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOzmEedGMy8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/mOzmEedGMy8| archive-date=2021-10-28|title=David Hasselhoff sings "Nadia's Theme" Young and the Restless (Merv Griffin Show 1977)|website=YouTube| date=October 17, 2012|access-date=February 24, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===1980s===
Six years after his debut live performance, Hasselhoff released in 1983, his debut single "I Get the Message".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/es/David-Hasselhoff-I-Get-The-Message/release/9433344|title=David Hasselhoff – I Get The Message|website=Discogs|year=1983 |access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref> In 1984, Hasselhoff made a guest appearance on the first season of ''[[Kids Incorporated]]'', performing "[[Do You Love Me]]", which became the lead single from his upcoming debut studio album, ''[[Night Rocker]]'', which was released in January 1985. The album was a big success in Austria, reaching number one there and being certified Platinum. In 1987, Hasselhoff released his second studio album, ''[[Lovin' Feelings]]'', which reached the top-twenty in Austria and [[West Germany]], and being certified Gold in the former country. That same year, due to the popularity of ''[[Knight Rider (1982 TV series)|Knight Rider]]'' in Europe at the time, Hasselhoff embarked on his first headlining tour across Austria, with a special guest appearance from [[KITT]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/from-the-s-s-archives-hasselhoff-not-his-car-is-a-big-hit-in-europe-1.54362|title=From the S&S archives: Hasselhoff, not his car, is a big hit in Europe|website=Stars & Stripes|access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref>

In 1988, Hasselhoff released the song "[[Looking for Freedom (song)|Looking for Freedom]]", which became a hit in Europe, especially in West Germany, where it reached number one for eight consecutive weeks.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} The song was also certified Platinum in West Germany and became the best-performing single of 1989 in the country.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} "Looking for Freedom" also topped the charts in Austria and Switzerland; and reached the top-twenty in France and Belgium.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} Due to its success, Hasselhoff released it on June 21, 1989, his third studio album [[Looking for Freedom (album)|of the same name]], which was produced by German music producer [[Jack White (producer)|Jack White]]. The album was a commercial success, reaching the top-five in Austria, West Germany and Switzerland; and being certified [[List of music recording certifications|three-times Platinum]] in Europe.<ref name="GerHits">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Hasselhoff%2CDavid/single|title=David Hasselhoff German peak positions|publisher=IFPI Germany|access-date=November 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418102553/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Hasselhoff%2CDavid/single|archive-date=April 18, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was noted for his performance of the song at the [[Berlin Wall]] on New Year's Eve 1989, two months after the Wall had [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|come down]], but nine months before [[German reunification|unification]] took place. Wearing a piano-keyboard scarf and a leather jacket covered in motion lights, Hasselhoff stood in a bucket crane and performed the song along with the crowd. The performance has had a lasting impact on [[Culture of Germany|German pop-culture]] with Hasselhoff commenting that the song became an "anthem" and "song of hope" for the people of [[East Germany]]. In 2004, Hasselhoff lamented the lack of a photo of him in the [[Checkpoint Charlie Museum]] in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3465301.stm|title=Did David Hasselhoff really help end the Cold War?|date=February 6, 2004|newspaper=BBC|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/11/09/362595983/how-mr-hasselhoff-tore-down-this-wall|title=How Mr. Hasselhoff Tore Down This Wall|website=NPR.org|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref> In July 1989, Hasselhoff released his first compilation album, ''[[Knight Lover]]'', which contains 17 greatest hits from his first two albums ''Night Rocker'' and ''Lovin' Feelings''. The album reached the top-twenty in Switzerland; and the top-forty in West Germany.

===1990s===

Following the breakthrough success of ''[[Looking for Freedom (album)|Looking for Freedom]]'', Hasselhoff embarked on his second tour, The Freedom Tour, which took around April and May 1990, across West Germany and Switzerland. In August of that year, Hasselhoff released his fourth studio album, ''[[Crazy for You (David Hasselhoff album)|Crazy for You]]'', which topped the charts in Austria and Switzerland, as well as reached the top-ten in West Germany, eventually becoming Hasselhoff's biggest-selling album in his career. In September 1991, Hasselhoff released his fifth studio album, ''[[David (David Hasselhoff album)|David]]'', which matched the success of its predecessor, with both the album and its lead single "Do The Limbo Dance" reaching number one in Austria. That same year, in order to promote ''David'', Hasselhoff embarked on his third tour, the Dreams Come True Tour, which took around November and December 1991, across Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In late 1991, two compilation albums were released: ''Looking for Freedom'' and ''For You'', with the former album including hits from 1989 and 1990, and the latter including hits from 1985 to 1987; however, both albums failed to chart. In September 1992, Hasselhoff released his sixth studio album ''[[Everybody Sunshine]]'', which became his last album being produced by [[Jack White (producer)|Jack White]], who collaborated with Hasselhoff since 1988. Though the album was certified Gold in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, it failed to reach the commercial heights of his three previous albums, ''Looking for Freedom'', ''Crazy for You'' and ''David''.

In November 1993, Hasselhoff released his seventh studio album ''[[You Are Everything (album)|You Are Everything]]'', which also met with moderate success in Europe, though it reached the top-ten in Austria and was certified Gold. The songs "If I Could Only Say Goodbye" and "Wir zwei allein" became hits in Europe, with the former becoming his first [[UK Singles Chart|UK chart entry ever]] peaking at number 35, and the latter becoming another top-ten hit in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. That same year, he released the single "Pingu Dance" based on the children's show ''[[Pingu]]'', and his fourth compilation album, ''Crazy for You'', which contains several hits from 1989 to 1991, however, both releases failed to chart. In 1994, Hasselhoff toured across Germany in order to promote ''You Are Everything''. That same year, he was scheduled to perform a concert on [[pay-per-view]] from Atlantic City. The concert was expected to help his singing career in the United States. However, on the night of the concert, [[O. J. Simpson]] was involved in his [[slow-speed chase]] in southern California. Viewership of the concert was significantly lower than expected due to the live coverage of the chase, and the event was ultimately a $1.5&nbsp;million loss.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hasselhoff|first=David|author-link=David Hasselhoff|title=Making Waves |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd|date=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clk4AgAAQBAJ&q=%22david%20hasselhoff%20and%20his%20friends%2C%20live%22&pg=PT190|access-date=July 16, 2015|isbn=9781444717372}}</ref> Hasselhoff joked that "90 million people watched O. J. and three people watched me, including me and my mom and my dad".<ref name="access20160318">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r2-NrFtofc | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/4r2-NrFtofc| archive-date=2021-10-28|title=David Hasselhoff: How O.J. Simpson's Infamous Car Chase Ruined His Pay-Per-View Event |date=March 1, 2016|type=video |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Following this, Hasselhoff released his eighth studio album ''Du'', which became Hasselhoff's first studio album not to receive any certification in Europe, and also met with moderate success on European charts.

In 1995, Hasselhoff released four greatest hits albums, including his self-titled fifth compilation album, ''David Hasselhoff'', released on April 11, 1995, in the United States, which became his first album in eight years since ''[[Lovin' Feelings]]'' (1987) to be released in the US. The record includes several songs from the albums ''You Are Everything'' and ''Du''. A new recording, called "Fallin' in Love", was released as the only single from the album. To promote ''David Hasselhoff'', Hasselhoff performed for the first time "Fallin' in Love" on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' aired on April 13, 1995. As attempting to launch his singing career in the US, both the album and the single "Fallin' in Love" were commercially unsuccessful, as failed to enter any ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' chart. His sixth and seventh compilation albums, ''Watch Out for the Bay'' and ''Is Everybody Happy'' were released in mid-1995, with the former album including songs from 1985 to 1987; and the latter, from 1989 to 1991; however, both albums failed to chart as well. His eighth compilation album, ''[[Looking for... the Best]]'' was released in October 1995, which contains 18 greatest hits from 1989 to 1994, including the hits "[[Looking for Freedom (song)|Looking for Freedom]]" (1988), "Crazy for You" (1990), "Do The Limbo Dance" (1991), "Everybody Sunshine" (1992), "Wir zwei allein" (1993) and "Du" (1994), as well as the US single "Fallin' in Love" (1995), and a new recording, titled "I Believe" with [[Laura Branigan]]. The album charted in Austria, peaking at number 50.

Two years later, in 1997, Hasselhoff signed with [[Polydor Records]] and released his ninth studio album, ''Hooked on a Feeling''. The album became Hasselhoff's least successful album to that point in his career, becoming his first studio album that failed to chart in Germany. In 1999, a ninth compilation album was released, ''Watch Out for Hasselhoff''.

===2000s===

Between 2001 and 2004, two more compilations were released, ''The Very Best Of'' and ''Greatest Hits''. Seven years after the release of ''Hooked on a Feeling'', Hasselhoff returned to the music scene with his tenth studio album, ''[[Sings America|David Hasselhoff Sings America]]'', released in August 2004, with the album performing slightly better on European charts, peaking at numbers 11 and 27 in Austria and Germany, respectively. That same year, Hasselhoff released his eleventh studio album, which became his first Christmas album, ''[[The Night Before Christmas (album)|The Night Before Christmas]]''. The album met with negative reviews and failed to enter any chart. In 2006, Hasselhoff released "[[Jump in My Car#David Hasselhoff version|Jump in My Car]]", which debuted at number three on the [[UK Singles Chart]], becoming Hasselhoff's first and only top-ten single in the UK. It also became his first and only [[ARIA Charts|Australian chart entry]], peaking at number 50.

In May 2006, Hasselhoff was mentioned in an interview of [[Dirk Nowitzki]], an [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] star playing for the [[Dallas Mavericks]] and a native of Germany. Nowitzki was asked what he does to concentrate when shooting foul shots. Dirk replied that he sings "Looking for Freedom" to himself. He meant this as a joke but it was thought to be a serious answer. Shortly thereafter, Hasselhoff attended the May 26, 2006, Mavericks home playoff game where they faced the [[Phoenix Suns]] in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Interviewed by [[Craig Sager]], Hasselhoff stated he was as much a fan of Nowitzki as Nowitzki was a fan of him. In The [[2006 NBA Finals]], fans of the [[Miami Heat]] in the [[American Airlines Arena]] held up facial photos of Hasselhoff and chanted his name when Nowitzki went to the foul line. On August 2, 2006, he proclaimed himself "King of the Internet" in a tongue-in-cheek advertisement for [[TalkTalk Business|Pipex]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pipexhoffworld.com/ |title=The Powered By Pipex commercial |access-date=February 9, 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307113025/http://www.pipexhoffworld.com/ |archive-date=March 7, 2007 }} featuring David Hasselhoff</ref> In December 2008, he sang the [[national anthem]] at the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] [[2008 Las Vegas Bowl|Las Vegas Bowl]]. Although the game was televised live by [[ESPN]], the station chose not to broadcast Hasselhoff's performance.<ref>[https://www.tmz.com/2008/12/21/oh-say-can-you-see-the-hoff "Oh Say Can You See the Hoff?"], TMZ.com, December 22, 2008.</ref> In 2008, a twelfth compilation was released under the title of ''Das Allerbeste''.

===2010s===
[[File:David Hasselhoff Bremen 1.jpg|thumb|right|Hasselhoff performing in April 2018]]
Seven years after his last album, Hasselhoff released in 2011 his twelfth studio album, ''A Real Good Feeling'', which reached number three in Austria, the top-thirty in Germany and became Hasselhoff's first album in fourteen years since ''Hooked on a Feeling'' (1997) to chart in Switzerland. Hasselhoff toured across those countries to promote the album. In 2012, he released his thirteen studio album ''This Time Around'', however, it failed to chart.

In 2015, he recorded the single "True Survivor", accompanied by a music video, which featured as the lead track for the 2015 Swedish short film ''[[Kung Fury]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTidn2dBYbY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/ZTidn2dBYbY| archive-date=2021-10-28|title=David Hasselhoff – True Survivor (from Kung Fury)|date=April 16, 2015|work=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The song was composed by [[Mitch Murder]] (Johan Bengtsson). Recorded in Sweden, the song and the video is designed as an ostentatious over-the-top 1980s homage/parody, with the video featuring dinosaurs, kung fu, [[Adolf Hitler]], skateboarding, Norse Gods and time travelling. Hasselhoff claimed that he had received the offer to record the song and the video by a request from [[Universal Music Group|Sweden Universal]] to "sing a tribute to the '80s".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6546148/david-hasselhoff-true-survivor-music-video-kung-fury-interview|title=David Hasselhoff Gives the Story Behind That Bonkers 'True Survivor' Music Video – Billboard|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> Hasselhoff performed a live version of the song during the 2016 [[Guldbagge Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/film/article22105438.ab|title=De uppträder på Guldbaggegalan|work=aftonbladet.se|date=January 18, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://entertainmentbooksblog.blogspot.se/2016/01/hasselhoff-ready-for-guldbaggegalan.html|title=Hasselhoff ready for Guldbaggegalan – Helsingborgs Dagblad|work=entertainmentbooksblog.blogspot.se|date=January 18, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref> "True Survivor" debuted and peaked at number 94 on the [[Canadian Hot 100]], becoming his first chart entry in Canada. In 2017, a retro music video called "Guardians' Inferno" was released as a bonus on the ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2]]'' home release, where Hasselhoff does the singing.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-david-hasselhoff-stars-in-video-w496207 'Guardians of the Galaxy': David Hasselhoff Stars in Retro 'Inferno' Video]</ref>

In September 2019, Hasselhoff released his fourteenth studio album, ''Open Your Eyes''. The album consists of covers of popular songs such as "[[Sweet Caroline]]" and "[[Lips Like Sugar]]", with all but one song featuring collaborations from other artists, including [[Todd Rundgren]] and [[Steve Stevens]]. The album charted in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, with the former reaching the top-thirty there.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Sam |title=David Hasselhoff's new album features covers of 'Sweet Caroline' and David Bowie's 'Heroes' |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/david-hasselhoff-new-album-open-your-eyes-sweet-caroline-heroes-david-bowie-covers-2539703 |website=NME |access-date=August 20, 2019 |date=August 19, 2019}}</ref> A promotional music video for the title track was released on YouTube on September 9,<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Legaspi |first1=Althea |title=See David Hasselhoff's New Video for 'Open Your Eyes' Cover With Stooges' James Williamson |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/david-hasselhoff-open-your-eyes-video-watch-882513/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=September 30, 2019 |date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> followed by the album's release on CD, [[LP record|vinyl]], digital download and streaming services on September 27, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://davidhasselhoff.bandcamp.com/album/open-your-eyes|title=Open Your Eyes, by David Hasselhoff|website=David Hasselhoff|access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> To promote the album, as well as celebrating the 30th anniversary of the album ''[[Looking for Freedom (album)|Looking for Freedom]]'' and the [[Looking for Freedom (song)|song of the same name]], Hasselhoff toured across Austria, Germany and Switzerland on the Freedom! The Journey Continues Tour, which took place in October 2019.

===2020s===

On December 10, 2020, Hasselhoff released his first heavy metal song titled "Through The Night". The song was recorded alongside CueStack, an Austrian duo who also enlisted the help of [[Beartooth (band)|Beartooth]] frontman [[Caleb Shomo]] to produce a retro synth-wave remix of the song.<ref>{{Cite web|last=brownypaul|date=December 10, 2020|title=David Hasselhoff's Metal Song With CueStack is Out Now!|url=https://wallofsoundau.com/2020/12/11/david-hasselhoffs-metal-song-with-cuestack-is-out-now/|access-date=December 10, 2020|website=Wall Of Sound|language=en-US}}</ref>