Sandra Cretu
| Sandra | |
|---|---|
Sandra in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sandra Ann Lauer |
| Also known as | Sandra Cretu |
| Born |
18 May 1962 Saarbrücken, Saarland, West Germany |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels | Virgin |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | www |
Sandra Ann Lauer, commonly known under her stage name Sandra (German pronunciation: [ˈzandʁa]; born 18 May 1962), is a German pop singer who enjoyed a mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced by her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu, most notably "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" (1985), "In the Heat of the Night" (1985), "Everlasting Love" (1987), "Secret Land" (1988), "Hiroshima" (1990) and "Don't Be Aggressive" (1992). Her albums Into a Secret Land (1988) and Close to Seven (1992) have won Sandra high critical acclaim.
Prior to embarking on a solo career, Sandra was the lead singer of an all-female disco trio Arabesque, which had a massive following in Japan and USSR. Also, between 1990 and 2001, she provided vocals on album releases of the very successful musical project Enigma, which had top 10 hits in North America and United Kingdom. A cult star with a devoted fan base, Sandra remains one of the most popular singers of the 1980s in Continental Europe. During the height of her popularity, she even managed to outsell Madonna in a number of countries around the world. With sales in excess of 30 million records worldwide, Sandra has established her position as the most successful German disco/pop female vocalist.
Sandra Ann Lauer was born in the German town of Saarbrücken, close to the French border. Her father, Robert, who owned a wine store in Saarbrücken, is French and her mother, Karin, who worked in a shoe store, is German. She also had an older brother, Gaston, a paraplegic who died in 1995. Sandra showed an early interest in music and dancing, starting to learn classical ballet at the age of 5, which she would continue for ten years, and receiving guitar lessons when she was 10 years old. In 1975, at the age of thirteen, Sandra went with her mother to see Young Star Festival, a Saarbrücken talent competition. She was only a member of the audience, but when all participants had finished performing and the jury was discussing the results, Sandra walked onto the stage, persuaded the DJ to put on the German version of a song made famous by Olivia Newton-John and started singing. The impromptu performance gained considerable recognition and led to the release of her first single, which was a children's song about a pet dog, "Andy mein Freund". The single, however, performed poorly on charts at that time dominated by disco mania.
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