The singer Mary Roos (73, "Sing mein Song") paid a high private price for her international career. "I know that I've often hurt my family a lot. I wasn't there for a wedding or a baptism," said Roos of the German Press Agency in Hamburg. "I knew why - but the others didn't understand. They always asked why didn't she come? What is more important, family or the job?"

Things have changed since the singer gave up her job of her own free will in 2019. "I'm catching up now, I'm trying to keep my family together," said the mother of the adult son Julian and sister of pop singer Tina York ("I'm a star – get me out of here!").

Of the value of a family

Instead of just congratulating on the phone, Roos now travels personally. She also likes to invite and cook for family and friends, said the Rhinelander, who lived in the Hanseatic city and was divorced twice - most recently from colleague Werner Böhm (1941-2020) aka Gottlieb Wendehals. "It's nice to be surrounded by family. You know, no matter what you do, they stand by you," Roos sums up her attitude.

The artist, who was born Rosemarie Schwab in Bingen (Rhineland-Palatinate), has published her autobiography "Aufrecht geht'n. Mein dissolute life". She wrote the book together with her friend and musician Pe Werner ("From A to Pe").