Alexandra (singer)
| Alexandra | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Doris Treitz |
| Born |
May 19, 1942 Heydekrug, Memelland |
| Died | July 31, 1969 (aged 27) Tellingstedt, Holstein |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
Alexandra was the stage name of German singer Doris Nefedov, née Treitz (May 19, 1942 – July 31, 1969).
Doris Treitz was born in Heydekrug, Memelland (today: Šilutė, Lithuania). Due to the flight and expulsion of Germans during and after WWII, her mother had to take her and her two elder sisters to the West. While the father wanted his daughters to aim for office jobs, the mother supported artistic aspirations, and the interest in foreign languages. At age 17, she left school in Kiel to become a fashion designer and actor in Hamburg, studying at Margot-Höpfner-Schauspielschule, working in several jobs to earn the money. At age 19, Doris Treitz took part in the Miss Germany pageant, enjoying being in the spotlight while still living with her mother in a small cheap apartment in Hamburg's Rothenburgsort. In order to pay the rent, they had to lease a room to a Russian, Nikolai Nefedov, who was 49 years old and en route to emigration into the US. Doris fell in love, they married. After their boy Alexander ("Sascha") was born when she was 20, the couple got a divorce and Mr. Nefedov went to America alone. Alexandra has two grandchildren, Dennis Nefedov, born May 1, 1993 and George Nefedov, born September 23, 2008, currently living in Boston, Massachusetts.
As she did not consider her legal name Doris Nefedov as helpful for a career, she chose Alexandra instead, after her son. Before a concert of singer Salvatore Adamo, the crowd booed other new female talents away, until Alexandra won them over with her rather melancholic style. Hans R. Beierlein, the well known German music manager of Udo Jürgens, became her manager, friend and lover.
Alexandra's first hit single, Zigeunerjunge ("gypsy boy"), was released in 1967; several more releases followed, including, Schwarze Balalaika ("black balalaika") and Mein Freund, der Baum ("my friend, the tree"). Most of the songs became no big hits, according to producer Fred Weyrich because they "were ahead of their time". She was forced to record a song not written by herself, Sehnsucht ("yearning") and vowed not to sing it again, yet it became a hit.
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