“Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Being Unstoppable,” with Guest, Banker–turned–Singer, Reality TV Celebrity, Social Activist, Ivan Wilzig, and Guest, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Championship-Winning Race Car Driver, Restaurateur, Alan Wilzig; and Musical Guest, Acclaimed Cantor Mo Glazman on The LIFE CHANGES Show Ep. 637

Guests: IVAN WILZIG and ALAN WILZIG; and Musical Guest: MO GLAZMAN

IVAN WILZIG

Banker–turned–singer, reality TV celebrity and social activist Ivan Wilzig has led a life that Hollywood movies are made of; all of which ultimately ties back to his passion to see the world live in peace and harmony.

IN THE BEGINNING

Born in Clifton, New Jersey (January 6, 1956), Ivan grew up with two siblings and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in European Intellectual History from the University of Pennsylvania and then later, he went on to earn a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Rather than practicing law however, Ivan joined his father Siggi in running The Trust Company of New Jersey.

After more than twenty years working for his family’s multi-billion dollar commercial banking business, where he also sat on the Board of Directors, Ivan left the banking world behind to reinvent himself as recording artist “Sir Ivan”. His love for music and his passion for peace and equality translated into a very unique sound that ultimately led to him becoming a Top 10 Billboard-charting artist.

THE RECORDING ARTIST

Sir Ivan’s journey began in 2000, when he played a demo tape for Dave Jurman, Senior Executive Director of Dance Music at Colombia Records. Dave was so impressed with Ivan’s talent and enthusiasm that he immediately introduced him to Ernie Lake, half of the two–time Grammy nominated producer team known as Soul Solution who produced Sir Ivan’s first single.

For that first single, Sir Ivan chose the iconic John Lennon song “Imagine”, as the lyrics and message closely mirrored his own beliefs of creating a world without violence and hatred. The reason these lyrics resonated so strongly with Ivan is because his father was an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor and 59 of their Jewish family members were murdered during the Holocaust.

“Imagine” was signed to Tommy Boy Records, by label founder Tom Silverman, and was released on September 4, 2001, exactly one week before the horrendous September 11th tragedy; where it broke into the Top 40 on the Billboard Club Play Chart.

It was the first time in history that a recording artist had converted the slow rock ballad into a high energy dance record. In fact, it was the first time that a recording artist remade any Beatles or John Lennon ballad into a dance record. Incredibly, thirty years after Lennon’s original release, Sir Ivan had made the song popular again for a whole new generation.

In 2011, Sir Ivan hit another milestone. After enjoying various degrees of success with other songs on the Billboard Charts, Sir Ivan finally got the recognition from the music industry he was seeking when, for the first time, he ranked in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Dance/Club Play chart with his hit single “Hare Krishna”, sharing the top 10 slots with superstar performers like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna.

After this monumental feat, the momentum never stopped.