Michal Prokop

In 1968, he graduated from the University of Economics in Prague (without a diploma or the title of Ing.) and in 1992, he graduated in cultural studies from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University.

In 1963, he began performing publicly in a rock band, later named Framus Five, initially as a guitarist and, from 1967, as a singer. The band gradually shifted its focus to soul and rhythm and blues, which was evident on their debut album Framus Five from 1969. Later, progressive rock influences were added (the album Město ER with lyrics by Josef Kainar from 1970, released in 1972). He then accepted an engagement at the Semafor Theater, while also performing as a partner in Hana Zagorová's program. In 1975, he performed with the band Mahagon and, from 1978, with the revived Framus Five, with whom he remained until 1990. In the 1980s, this band produced the critically acclaimed albums Kolej Yesterday (1984), Nic ve zlým, nic v dobrým (1987) and Snad nám naše děti… (1989)

After the Velvet Revolution, he served as a Czechoslovak politician and member of the Chamber of Nations of the Federal Assembly. In the 1990 elections, he took a seat in the Czech part of the Chamber of Nations (Prague constituency) for the Civic Forum. After the dissolution of the Civic Forum in 1991, he joined the ODA parliamentary club. He remained in the Federal Assembly until the 1992 elections.

From 1992, he served as Deputy Minister of Culture. In the 1996 elections, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for the ODA and held his seat until the early elections in 1998. He served as chairman of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth, and Physical Education.

From 1998 to 2001, he was director of the Prague – European City of Culture 2000 project. At the end of the 1990s, he hosted the politically oriented program Nic ve zlým (No Hard Feelings) on Prima TV. From 2000 to December 2013, he hosted the television talk show Krásný ztráty (Beautiful Losses) on Czech Television. He also published two books based on these television interviews.

Since 2000, Michal Prokop has been performing publicly again with the revived band Framus Five and with an acoustic trio. He has also released several new albums and DVDs, notably the comeback album Poprvé naposledy (2006), Sto roků na cestě (2012), Mohlo by to bejt nebe... (2021) and the latest one called Ostraka (2025). In 2020, Vondrák's television documentary about the singer's life, Michal Prokop: Až si pro mě přijdou... (When They Come for Me...), premiered, and in the same year, a book of interviews with journalist Michal Bystrov entitled Ztráty a návraty (Losses and Returns) was published.

Michal Prokop is a two-time member of Radio Beat's Beat Hall of Fame and a member of the Czech Music Academy's Anděl Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic (L'officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres).