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Rocker Peter Maffay was the best-selling German pop star of his generation, wielding his celebrity to become a powerful advocate for antiwar efforts and an outspoken critic of domestic abuse. Born Peter Alexander Makkay on August 30, 1949, in Brasov, Romania, he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' native Germany. Soon after, he founded his first rock band, the Dukes. After a short stint working with art manufacturer Chemigraphics and moonlighting in local nightclubs, Maffay flung himself into music full-time. His 1969 debut single, "Du," proved a career-defining smash, selling in excess of a million copies and setting the stage for his debut LP, Für das Mädchen, das Ich Liebe. Maffay's career almost ended in tragedy in 1972, when he was critically injured in a motorcycle accident. He not only survived, but his music enjoyed even greater popularity than before, with subsequent efforts including the two-LP set Omen, 1974's Samstag Abend in Unserer Straße, and 1977's Dein Ges...