Falco was the first white, German-speaking rapper in pop history and, despite not being as famous as other "icons" of the 1980s, he has achieved what no other artist has before or since: #1 on the Billboard charts with a German language song ("Rock Me Amadeus"). He was a controversial figure who seemingly enjoyed his notoriety, and, unfortunately, indulged with reckless abandon in the pop star lifestyle and all that came with it.
His personality was highly addictive, but people who were close to him knew a different side that was lovable, kind, generous, and full of humor. Falco aka Johann “Hans“ Hölzel was a complex man with a keen intellect and a great deal of creativity, driven by an unquenchable desire for fame and recognition of his talents, and plagued by insecurities. Social media wannabe PhDs are quick to throw big words around such as “narcissist“, but since I’m not a trained psychologist (and neither are they), I’ll refrain from making any such unqualified diagnoses. What I have seen in his chart is definitely someone who had a considerable ego. However, that doesn’t automatically make him into a cold, controlling person devoid of empathy (some of the key features of narcissism). His boastful arrogance was that of a poser who loved performing, and you could put a myriad of artists into this category. The condescending a**hole spiel was intentionally overblown and crafted into a public persona, or, as Falco defined it: “A flesh-and-blood brand“. He certainly took his own character traits to the extreme with his artistic project and infused it with a decidedly self-mocking undertone that critics intentionally overlooked or failed to understand, but he didn’t seem to be malicious in his private life at all (notwithstanding the verbally abusive, loudmouth drama queen that came out when he was under the influence).
I have looked into his birth chart and the challenging astrology at the time of his death. While astrology isn’t immovable fate, it shows a person’s trajectory molded by inner and outer developments, and if an addictive personality with a rather out-of-control lifestyle meets harsh astrological conditions such as reality checks, propensity for accidents, confusion etc., these people can have severe issues dealing with their lives during such phases. They can even lose themselves to a degree because they lack the inner resources to handle ongoing frustration, for example, or they cannot emotionally nurture themselves. Therefore, anyone who is destabilized for whatever reason can easily find themselves stumbling from one disaster into the next due to a lack of self-awareness and because of their inability to break out of established patterns, toxic or destructive as they may be.
For someone such as Falco with a grand cross in fixed signs (determination, but also great stubbornness), plus a strong emphasis on the water element (sensitivity, artistic inclination, and, at worst, a weak spot for addiction), the midlife crisis he was going through at the time of his death must have been a very hard and unhappy period. He once half-joked in an interview about having had his midlife crisis at age 27, but he really was in a tough place during the final years of his life. When he passed away in 1998, I was a teenager and a casual fan, but his death hit me hard, and I never quite understood why. The same happened when George Michael died, not to mention Freddie Mercury who, despite my very young age, had left a huge impression on me. I guess some people just have a je ne sais quoi that simply speaks to our hearts, and I’ll leave it at that.