“Karel was a nobleman at heart. People like him are no longer born,” says Jan Adam – music editor, screenwriter, dramaturge, and producer – who worked with Karel Gott for thirty-three years and served as his personal secretary from 2010 to 2015.
Do you still remember the moment when you and Karel Gott agreed to work together?
Absolutely – something like that you never forget. On November 28, 1983, we met at exactly the right time and in exactly the right place. Karel accepted my invitation to take part in a discussion at the university club Iuridica. About six hundred students attended. He was forty-four at the time, Miro Žbirka had just taken the Golden Nightingale from him, and Karel began to feel that the younger generation was slipping away from him. When the discussion ended, he said to me: “So, Honza, we’ll continue with this.” And that’s exactly what we did.
What did working as his collaborator – and later his secretary – involve?
Being available to Karel twenty-four hours a day, something he never abused in the slightest. I organized his schedule, handled fan mail, arranged meetings with journalists, worked with Czech and international companies, and accompanied him to most concerts and television recordings. I served as dramaturge and executive producer of his albums and handled the authorization of his Czech lyrics abroad. Between 2011 and 2015, I wrote 223 one-hour episodes of his radio program Back to This Film, broadcast by Czech Radio’s Dvojka – and I selected the music for every single episode.
Karel was a fixture and a highly sought-after guest at social events and parties. How did he behave there?
An interesting fact is that he never ate at parties or social events. He was afraid paparazzi might photograph him at an unflattering moment. He cultivated the image of a romantic tenor and guarded it carefully. If he got hungry or craved something, he would ask me to bring food to a private lounge or dressing room. It was never finger food or cold cuts – he usually preferred fruit. He loved pineapple and grapes. And I never once saw him drunk. He often told me, “We’ll just stop by for a moment and then quietly disappear.” But in reality, we usually left among the very last guests – often at dawn. And imagine this: shortly after seven in the morning, Karel would knock on my door and say it was time for breakfast. I never understood where he found all that energy. I used to tell him, “You must have a contract with both God and the devil.”
You traveled not only across former Czechoslovakia but almost the entire world together. Which places do you remember most fondly?
We toured German-speaking countries, where Karel had – and still has – countless fans. German audiences adored him. I was also with him in Belgium, where in 2013 he received the BRF Golden Antenna (from Belgian Radio and Television) for lifetime achievement. As his PR manager, I had the honor of being present at his first concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2000. And even in New York – on Broadway or Times Square – Karel had no peace, because fans from Europe recognized him everywhere. I witnessed his triumphant successes in Moscow three times – at the Kremlin and at Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow’s equivalent of Carnegie Hall. I heard him sing on stages graced by the greatest stars in the world. And I’m proud to say I managed to arrange Karel’s guest appearances at Prague concerts by José Carreras and Julio Iglesias.
Can you recall encounters with other major figures?
There were many – Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, André Rieu, Il Divo, Chris de Burgh, Semino Rossi, Frank Wildhorn, Michael Kunze… But there is one meeting I will never forget, even though Karel wasn’t there – yet it concerned him directly.
Jan Adam with Priscilla Presley.
Can you tell us more?
In 2018, Priscilla Presley – Elvis Presley’s widow – hosted Elvis in Concert at Prague’s O2 Arena. At the beginning of the second half, she stepped down to the front rows and asked audience members how they liked the concert and which Elvis song they loved most. My friend Lukáš leaned over and whispered, “Go. This is your moment.” So I stood up and walked toward Priscilla, surrounded by bodyguards, and said: “Mrs. Presley, Elvis was the King of the world. Central Europe has its own king – Karel Gott, whom I worked with for many years, and who recorded twelve Elvis hits. Elvis is here tonight – Karel Gott will be here on Tuesday.” Priscilla Presley smiled and replied: “That’s a great pity I won’t be in Prague anymore. I would love to meet the king of Central Europe.” At that moment, the O2 Arena erupted – our entire exchange was shown live on the giant screen above the stage. To this day, I don’t know how or why I started talking about Karel Gott in front of Priscilla. At the time, we were no longer working together, and our separation had not been entirely peaceful. Perhaps it stemmed from my lifelong decision to promote Karel Gott everywhere and always.
Did you ever argue?
Of course. When you spend that much time with someone, disagreements are inevitable. He disliked bad news, but when it came, I had to tell him directly – and he appreciated that. Sometimes he even shouted at me, but he was never angry for long. With anyone. What was worse was when he spoke quietly and urgently. Then I knew things were serious.
Women and Karel Gott – those two went hand in hand. Was he capable of falling madly in love?
Women were inseparable from Karel. They were his inspiration and his source of vitality. I witnessed him madly in love many times. These were not one-night affairs, but long-term relationships.
What, in your view, did Karel Gott bring to Czechoslovakia – and later the Czech Republic?
He promoted them like no one before him – and I fear no one will ever surpass him.
DVD Launch of Lady Carneval in 2006.
Karel Gott and Food
Jan Adam and Karel Gott both had a sweet tooth and consumed a great deal of dessert during the day. “Karel often ate even more cakes than I did,” Jan Adam recalls with a smile. “And he taught me to enjoy many dishes – like halušky with bryndza, or Slovak lokše, traditionally served with roast goose or duck. But his favourite – black song-hua eggs at the Chinese restaurant Green Garden – never appealed to me. Today, however, I can’t imagine visiting without ordering that delicacy. As a main course, I always choose Karel’s favourite dish there: Sichuan-style pork.”
CV BOX
Jan Adam (born April 8, 1964) studied law but never practiced it. He devoted his professional life to pop music and opera. From 2010 to 2015, he served as the personal secretary of Karel Gott.
He also worked as PR manager for Hana Zagorová, Štefan Margita, Adam Plachetka, and Kateřina Kněžíková. Together with Helena Vondráčková, he wrote forty-one one-hour scripts for her radio program Sweet Delusion, broadcast by Czech Radio Dvojka in 2021–2022.
He is the recipient of nine Platinum and four Gold Supraphon records and DVDs for the successful sales of albums by Karel Gott, Helena Vondráčková, and Štefan Margita. With Michaela Remešová, he co-authored the book Stories Hidden Behind KG’s Songs, revealing the backgrounds of fifty-five of Gott’s songs and featuring previously unpublished photographs.
Since January this year, Czech Radio Hradec Králové has been broadcasting his own weekly program every Friday, Records, Tapes, Memories – or I Didn’t Live Only the Life of Karel Gott.
He enjoys active pursuits, especially hiking in the Krkonoše Mountains – having climbed Sněžka and Praděd even at his age. He has also canoed down the Ohře River and jumped into the water from a six-meter-high ship deck in Egypt. Every autumn, he regularly undergoes spa treatment in Karlovy Vary.
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