Danny K

Biography

Daniel Koppel (born 8 September 1977), known professionally as Danny K, is a South African singer, songwriter and actor.

Early life and education

He was raised by Jewish parents, Gavin and Pam Koppel in Johannesburg. He is the eldest of their three children and was educated at King David School, a private Jewish Day School in Linksfield. He later graduated from Wits University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law. He later attended Wits Business School at the university and obtained a postgraduate diploma in management.

Career

Danny has been nominated multiple times for a SAMA (South African Music Award) and has won four times. He has two consecutive Kids Choice Awards, two consecutive Crystal Awards (People's Choice Awards), YOU magazine Award for Best South African Musician, and The South African STYLE Award. Danny was also voted number 34 in the Heat Magazine's Hot 100 for 2007. He was voted by First National Bank's national survey as one of South Africa's few role models, as well as South Africa's most trustworthy 100 public personalities by Reader's Digest, where he took 1st place, which saw the pot of R100 000 donated to Compassionate Friends, a grief-counseling service in memory of his late brother.
In 2021, he made a guest appearance, starring as himself in the Jewish-themed South African comedy series, Tali's Baby Diary on Showmax.
In November 2024, he revealed that he had ended his five-year recording hiatus and was set to release a new single.

Personal life

In 2012, Koppel married Lisa Gundelfinger; they had two sons and one daughter together. On August 10, 2026, it was announced that Gundelfinger had died from colorectal cancer at the age of 41.

Movies

Crazy Monkey Presents Straight Outta Benoni 2005
Bunny Chow 2006