“We have lost a wonderful friend,” says Huby Mayer, mourning his fellow musician Sepp Ladinig from Rangersdorf. In 1971 they founded the Mölltaler with three other people “Fidelen Mölltaler” and wrote a 45-year success story. Ladinig, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 69, was not only a guitarist, drummer and emcee, but also manager of the group, which was dedicated to folk and pop music. “He made a significant contribution to our success, and he deserves great thanks and recognition for that,” says band leader Huby Mayer. In 2016, the Mölltalers said goodbye to the musicians’ pension with a big farewell tour. In total, the cheerful Mölltalers have sold around 1.8 million records. The most famous hits were “Gold, Platinum and Diamond” and “Why, I ask you that”.
This is how the cheerful Mölltaler will be remembered by his fans © Karlheinz Fessl
Ladinig, who was a trained chef, was awarded the Medal of Honor of the State of Carinthia and honorary citizenship of Rangersdorf as a musical ambassador. Mayor Josef Kerschbaumer says that he made the community known far beyond the Austrian borders; many long-standing guest honors can be traced back to the fame of Fidelen Mölltaler at the time. “There is great sadness about his death. Sepp was very popular, affable and supported many issues in the community,” says Kerschbaumer. In the mid-1990s, Ladinig founded the Großglockner riding arena in Lainach and made his greatest hobby, riding, popular in the Mölltal.
His wife Rosi and his children Jasmin and René and their families mourn the musician’s death. There is no funeral date yet. Huby Mayer promises to give his friend a dignified farewell.