Born in Vienna, as the only survivor of a triplets birth, he studied at the Vienna Music Conservatory. Before becoming an international rock star, he was bass player in the Austrian hard rock band Drahdiwaberl. As a solo artist, Falco had taken an interest in the sounds and rhythms of rap music, and was one of the first Europeans to incorporate rap stylings into pop and rock music. He is best known internationally for the rap-styled "Rock Me Amadeus" (inspired in part by the Oscar-winning film Amadeus) from his album Falco 3, which became a worldwide hit in 1986 and reached #1 on the US charts (arguably the first "rap" song to achieve this feat, notwithstanding Blondie's success with their 1981 hit "Rapture"]).

Falco's first hit was "Der Kommissar" (a partial rap song about drug consumption) from the 1982 album Einzelhaft. An English cover version of "Der Kommissar" by After the Fire became a Top 5 hit in the United States in 1983. Incidentally, the video for the song would later be dubbed by MTV as "The Worst Video of All Time". That same year, Laura Branigan recorded a version of the song with new English lyrics, under the title "Deep In The Dark," on her album Branigan 2. 16 years later, a new version "Der Kommissar 2000" and two new remixes of the original put the song back on the charts.

Other well-known international hits were "Vienna Calling" and "Jeanny" from the album Falco 3. "Jeanny" was somewhat controversial when it was released in Germany and the Netherlands, because it was told from the point of view of a rapist and possible murderer. Several DJs and radio stations refused to play the song, although it became a huge hit in many European countries, and inspired two sequels on later albums.

In 1986, the album Emotional was released, produced by Rob and Ferdi Bolland (Bolland & Bolland). On the Album were "Jeanny Part 2- Coming Home", "The Sound of Music" and a song about Kathleen Turner and Robert Capa.

In 1987, he sang a duet with Brigitte Nielsen "Body next to Body". The Album Wiener Blut was released in 1988 but it did not get much publicity outside Germany and Austria.

In 1990, he made a song for Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz. The song was titled "Tanja P. not Cindy C.", and appeared on the Album Data de Groove.