Pop singer Jürgen Drews ("Ein Bett im Kornfeld") wants to end his career and say goodbye to the stage at the end of the year.

The 77-year-old announced this on Saturday evening on the ARD show "The Big Schlager Beach Party" in Gelsenkirchen with Florian Silbereisen.

He wanted to thank fate, said Drews with tears in his eyes.

It was a nice time.

He wants to have his last appearance in autumn in one of the hit shows with Florian Silbereisen.

"It's time to put my personal life first.

You will still be able to meet me at one or the other event this year and see me on television, but at the end of this year I will say goodbye to the stage," said Drews in an interview with "Bild am Sonntag".

He is no longer as resilient as he used to be and feels that it is incredibly good for him to be at home.

Drews had already announced at the end of May that he wanted to step back for the time being - he reported that he was suffering from the nervous disease polyneuropathy.

This disease is not curable, Drews said in an interview.

He has a mild form of polyneuropathy.

"It gets on my nerves.

So I'm often a bit shaky on my feet, I have to concentrate a lot if I have to walk long distances on stage." And he added: "I'm not in pain, but my body and my condition change."

In the case of polyneuropathy, the transmission of stimuli in the nerves is disturbed, which is often first felt with tingling or burning.

Sensory stimuli are amplified, diminished or not transmitted at all.

For example, patients perceive heat or cold incorrectly, or they feel pain even though there is no painful stimulus.

"Hold his little zippers"

But it's not just because of his illness that Drews longs for some rest - he also feels the side effects of old age, is more tired than before and "just has his niggles".

And his famous pirouette isn't as quick as it used to be, he said.

Regarding his future retirement, Drews said: "I'm definitely going to miss the stage at some point, but I've really seen everything in the more than 60 years that I've been doing this job."

In the live broadcast on the first, Drews, who still looks fresh and youthful in front of the camera despite his 77 years, first sang his hit "Ein Bett im Kornfeld" – then he announced his farewell together with his wife Ramona.

Both had tears in their eyes – moderator Silbereisen and many people in the audience were visibly moved.

Drews, who grew up in Schleswig-Holstein, started out as a real jazz musician.

However, he became really popular with easy hits in the mid-1970s.

"Ein Bett im Kornfeld", his big hit, clearly thrives on the youthful tingling that he conveys "between flowers and straw".

Drews later became the "King of Mallorca" and thus an icon of a scene in which health is sometimes put aside for a good party.

At the same time, Drews has always let it be known that one should not overinterpret his role.

"I'm just a human being like everyone else and my job is to make music and entertain people with it," he explained when his autobiography ("It Was For the Best") was published.

He is basically a “service provider”.