Peter Doherty sparks outrage in Germany over Nazi anthem
Tue Dec 1 01:41:45 EST 2009
Mon Nov 30 14:41:45 UTC 2009
BERLIN, Nov 30 AFP - British rocker Peter Doherty was hauled off stage at a weekend music festival in Germany after he began singing the Nazi anthem, Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles, during his set, reports say.
Revellers at the on3 festival in Munich booed and shouted at Doherty, but he carried on singing until organisers removed him from the stage, Bavaria's TZ newspaper reported.
Doherty's tirade was broadcast live on Bavarian public radio, the festival's organisers said.
"We decided to stop Peter Doherty's appearance on stage as quickly as possible," organisers Bayerischer Rundfunk said in a statement.
It is the latest in a long line of controversies for the 30-year-old Babyshambles singer, whose career has been marred by drug use and jail time.
The lines come from the first verse of the Song of Germany and this verse was used as the national anthem under the Nazis.
While the verse is not banned in Germany, it has not been sung since World War II because of its close links with Adolf Hitler.
