John Kay (left), Steppenwolf album cover

John Kay (born 12 April 1944 as Joachim Fritz Krauledat in Tilsit, East Prussia) is a German-born Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the front man of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf album cover uploaded by Gerald Zuckier. ... Steppenwolf album cover uploaded by Gerald Zuckier. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... A railway bridge in Tilsit Sovetsk (Советск) is a town on the Neman River in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, which prior to 1945 was known by its German name, Tilsit, and was in East Prussia. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Steppenwolf Gold album cover Steppenwolf was a 1960s and 1970s rock n roll band, best known for the hits Born to Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride. Due to the German background of the bands leader John Kay, they were named after the novel Steppenwolf by author Hermann Hesse. ...

After the Expulsion of Germans after World War II, Kay's mother also fled the Soviet occupied East Germany in 1948 to resettle in Hanover, West Germany (as recounted in his song "Renegade" on the album Steppenwolf Seven). Young Joachim had listened to the music broadcast by the American Forces Network before moving to Canada in 1958 at age 14. Germans expelled from the Sudetenland // The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the escape and mass deportation of people considered Germans (both Reichsdeutsche and Volksdeutsche) from Soviet-occupied areas of Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe during the first three years after World War II 1945-48. ... GDR redirects here. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Hanover (German: Hannover []), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... American Forces Network (or AFN) is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He joined a blues rock and folk music group known as The Sparrow in 1965, which had moderate success in Canada before moving to California, augmenting its line-up and changing its name to Steppenwolf in 1967. With more aggressive music, that pioneered hard rock and heavy metal, Kay's Steppenwolf had international success with songs such as "Born to Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride", "Monster", "The Pusher", and "Rock Me", which was multiplied by the use of "Born to Be Wild" and "The Pusher" in the 1969 movie Easy Rider. Blues-rock, is a hybrid musical genre combining elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the common people. ... Steppenwolf Gold album cover Steppenwolf was a 1960s and 1970s rock n roll band, best known for the hits Born to Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride. Due to the German background of the bands leader John Kay, they were named after the novel Steppenwolf by author Hermann Hesse. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Steppenwolf Gold album cover Steppenwolf was a 1960s and 1970s rock n roll band, best known for the hits Born to Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride. Due to the German background of the bands leader John Kay, they were named after the novel Steppenwolf by author Hermann Hesse. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Hard rock is a form of rock and roll music which finds its closest roots in early 1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock. ... Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ... Easy Rider is a 1969 road movie, written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern. ...

Kay recorded both as a solo artist and with Steppenwolf during the late 1970s, and is still touring with a new Steppenwolf line-up. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

Kay suffers from congenital achromatopsia, a defect of the eyes which causes legal blindness, complete colorblindness, and increased sensitivity to light, the latter of which he wears his trademark sunglasses to combat. Despite this condition, he is an avid videographer. Achromatopsia is a medical condition (also called maskun or rod monochromatism) characterized by a low cone cell count or lack of function in cone cells; these are the light receptors responsible for color perception. ... Color blindness in humans is the inability to perceive differences between some or all colors that other people can distinguish. ...

Solo discography

• Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes (1972)
• My Sportin' Life (1973)
• All in Good Time (1978)
• Lone Steppenwolf (1987) (compilation of Forgotten and Sporting)
• Lost Heritage Tapes (1997)
• Heretics and Privateers (2001)
• Tighten Up Your Wig - Best Of John Kay and the Sparrow (1993) (compilation)
• John Kay and the Sparrow (2001) (compilation)

1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Marjorie Rhodes and John Mills as Lucy and Ezra Fitton. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

External links

• Steppenwolf's official website
• Kay's Biography