Biography
Rene Probst, alias 7Ray was born in Austria. He discovered his love of music at a very early age. at the tender age of twelve he was already singing and playing guitar in various bands on small stages around the world.
A little later he joined the band “Badertempelhof” and managed to win various competitions, including the Styrian band competition. He was rewarded BY a recording deal with Ariola and the production of a single.
Rene is receiving ever wider recognition and rewards for his work. After studying jazz guitar he founded the band Tim Tim, in which he plays the role of bandleader and producer. He has scored international success with four top ten singles from his album "Under the Sun". They include the number 1 hit "Underneath the Mango Tree", which most people will know from the Bond classic "James Bond - Dr. No". he re-interpreted the tune, giving it a reggae beat. The single enjoyed a meteoric climb up the charts, reaching gold status almost immediately. The video was produced in Nassau and used by various channels such as MTV Europe and VIVA Germany. Further success has followed with his appearances at the Montego Bay Sumfest Reggae Festival, the largest 5-day festival in the world, where other stars such as Boyz 2 Men, KC & Jojo AND Ziggy Marley conferred upon him the title of Official Ambassador of the School of Art by Bob Marley.
After Rene left Tim Tim at his own request in 1998, he launched his career as a solo artist two years later with the rap project R.E.N.E, with lyrics drawing on such diverse influences as Rilke and Oscar Werner. the result was a symbiosis embodying music and art and produced the single "My Angel".
in 2002 he worked on various projects with Robert Ponger, the man who discovered Falco, probably the most enigmatic figure on the Austrian music scene. Rene worked tirelessly on his singing when he trained as a singer in a gospel community choir in London under the direction of Bazil Mead, who has also worked with choirs for Madonna, Tina Turner, Sting, Joe Cocker and Foreigner. This was followed by further vocal training under T-Jay Cole (Blue) in London and Seth Riggs (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Bon Jovi and others) in LA.
Since then Rene has appeared as a solo artist in the Rat-Pack style, accompanied by a jazz quartet and various big bands. His wide musical interests have been shaped by Elizabeth Bice (Metropolitan New York), Calina Pisarenko and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (Anna Netrebko). as part of a deal with Uwe Fahrenkrog Petersen, former keyboard and composer of the German New-Wave band Nena, who supplied songs to the former boy-band N Sync, Rene released his first album which he completed under the name "7Ray" in May 2008. he has contributed Two songs to the soundtrack of the Hollywood movie, "The Informer" by Brad Easton Ellis with a star-studded cast of four Oscar winners and other Hollywood figures including Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Billy Bob Thornton, John Foster, and Brad Renfro Chris Isaak. the International release of his single "In a scarlet sky" and his album is set for 2009.
The music of 7Ray can be described as a fusion of different styles. "I do not want to be pigeonholed," is his motto.
7Ray. It’s an unusual name for an unusual artist. A significant pseudonym, which according to 7Ray stands for the seven spectral colours and the seven chakras, the main energy centres of man. The number Seven can be interpreted in a number of ways: Seven wonders of the world, seven days in a week and the creation of the world in seven days or the number of victory, etc. If one considers the number seven in combination with the lyrics of the artist, it soon becomes clear that his words refer to the seven core values espoused by man: love, joy, peace, freedom, respect, patience and self-confidence.
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