The young Hans Hölzel, as the later pop star's civil name is, comes from a working-class district of Vienna and takes his first musical steps as a bass player in various bands. He develops the art figure "Falco" and is discovered when he performs his first own song Ganz Wien as an intermission programme.

From then on, the hits followed each other, crowned by Rock Me Amadeus at the top of the US Billboard Charts - to this day the only German-language title ever to have achieved this. But fame comes at a price. Cocaine and alcohol destroy every one of Falco's relationships, private and professional. Soon hardly anyone wants to work with him. His career is in a dead end, several comeback attempts fail. Falco is just 40 years old and drunk as a skunk when he crashes his car into a bus in 1998.

In the documentary "TOO young TO DIE: Falco - Dying to Live", friends and companions such as Falco's manager Horst Bork or the Dutch producer Ferdi Bolland tell stories of everyday life and work with the eccentric artist. Even the woman who thought Falco was her father for seven years tells of the not always easy life as the daughter of the capricious pop star. Private video recordings by Falco's friend Conny de Beauclair provide a glimpse behind the scenes.