Dieter Bohlen | |
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 Bohlen in 2019 | |
| Born | Dieter Günter Bohlen[1] (1954-02-07)7 February 1954 (age 71) Berne, West Germany |
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| Years active | 1973–present |
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| Children | 6 |
| Musical career | |
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| Formerly of | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | dieterbohlenofficial |
Dieter Bohlen (German:[ˈdiːtɐˈboːlən]; bornDieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duoModern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German and international artists. He is also a judge on casting showsDeutschland sucht den Superstar andDas Supertalent.[3]
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Bohlen is the eldest son of building contractor[4] Hans Bohlen (born 1928) and his wife Edith[5] (born 1936), and grew up inEast Frisia. His maternal grandmother is originally fromKönigsberg.[6] He was named Dieter Günter Bohlen but later expressed dissatisfaction with his second given name and had it officially struck.[1] He has a younger brother named Uwe.[5] The family later moved toEversten (Oldenburg). In his youth, Bohlen was a member of theSocialist German Workers Youth for a while and shortly of theGerman Communist Party, though he is not a member of any party nowadays.[4][7] After getting hisAbitur at the Wirtschaftsgymnasium der Berufsbildenden Schulen in Oldenburg-Haarentor, he moved toGöttingen. There, he studied business administration at his parents' request at theGeorg-August-Universität, finishing his studies in 1978 with a degree.[4]
Bohlen was still in school when he started writing music.[4] In the late 1970s, he worked as a songwriter at theHamburg-based label Intersong for numerousSchlager singers. In 1978, he founded the short-lived duo Monza with Holger Garbode. Their first single, "Hallo Taxi Nummer 10", written and produced by Tony Hendrik, was Bohlen's first record and was unsuccessful. Monza released a second single, "Heiße Nacht in der City", a German-language cover ofNick Gilder's "Hot Night in the City", which also was unsuccessful. In 1980, he began working for theBerlin-based labelHansa. That same year, under the pseudonym Steve Benson, he released a solo single in English, "Don't Throw My Love Away".[citation needed] It was followed in 1981 by two other singles under that name, "Love Takes Time" and "(You're A Devil With) Angel Blue Eyes". None of them reached the top 100, which led to the abandonment of the project in 1981.[citation needed] Soon after, he joined the band Sunday, with which he appeared on theZDF-Hitparade in early 1982 with the song "Halé, hey Louise". The song was covered by artists such asRicky King. In 1983, in collaboration with Manfred Setzer, Bohlen wrote the song "Mit 17" forBernd Clüver, which reached the third place of the German pre-selection for theEurovision Song Contest.[citation needed]
After Bohlen produced six unsuccessful singles in German for Schlager singerThomas Anders from 1982 to 1984,[citation needed] they founded the pop duoModern Talking. The band topped the German singles chart five times in a row with "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", and "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love)", and were also successful in other European countries as well as in Asia and Africa. In 1987, the band split up and Bohlen founded his solo projectBlue System, which he ended ten years later. He also continued writing and producing for other artists, includingC. C. Catch (whom he discovered), Sheree[8] (whom he signed when she was fifteen years old), and boy bandTouché.
In 1986, Bohlen wrote the title song "Midnight Lady" ofTatort episodeDer Tausch [de], which was performed by formerSmokie singerChris Norman and was major hit in Central Europe, topping several charts.[9] The song appeared on Norman's second solo albumSome Hearts Are Diamonds, which was produced by Bohlen. In 1988, he wrote the title song ofTatort episodeMoltke [de], "Silent Water", which he performed himself as Blue System. In 1989, two songs written and produced by him were sent to theEurovision Song Contest:Nino de Angelo represented Germany with the song "Flieger" and reached place 14, whileThomas Forstner represented Austria with the song "Nur ein Lied" and reached place 5. Also in 1989, Bohlen wrote the soundtrack to theZDF seriesRivalen der Rennbahn, which was certified platinum in Germany that same year[10] and reached the top 5 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.[11]
In 1991, Bohlen producedRoy Black's final albumRosenzeit. From 1991 to 1993, he worked withBonnie Tyler on the albumsBitterblue,Angel Heart, andSilhouette in Red. The collaboration spawned a number of successful singles, such as "Bitterblue", "Against the Wind" (which was used as the title song ofTatort episodeDer Fall Schimanski [de]), and "Fools Lullaby". In 1992, another Bohlen composition represented Austria at theEurovision Song Contest. Titled "Zusammen geh'n", it was performed byTony Wegas and reached place 10. In 1998, Modern Talking made a successful comeback, releasing singles such as "You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98, "You Are Not Alone", orFormula One songs "Win the Race" and "Ready for the Victory",[12] but split up again in 2003.
In 2002,Deutschland sucht den Superstar (often shortened asDSDS), the German version ofPop Idol andAmerican Idol, was launched with Bohlen as one of the judges. While the other judges are changed regularly, he has been a judge each season. He has produced most of the winners, yielding several hits such as "We Have a Dream". That same year, he published his first book, an autobiography titledNichts als die Wahrheit, written in collaboration withBild journalistKatja Kessler, which sold over a million copies in Germany and got aGoldene Feder. A second autobiography written with Kessler,Hinter den Kulissen, was published the next year. It was criticised for its unfairness and charges were pressed by his former bandmate Thomas Anders.[13][14]Frank Farian published the bookStupid Dieser Bohlen: Die Wahrheit und nichts als die Wahrheit über den Pop-Hochstapler as a response, in which he tried to expose Bohlen as a fraud.[15] BothNichts als die Wahrheit andHinter den Kulissen were also released as audiobooks read by Bohlen. In 2004, he won theECHO for Producer of the Year,[16] while "We Have a Dream" earned the ECHO for Rock/Pop Single of the Year (National).
In March 2006,Dieter: Der Film, a satirical cartoon film based onNichts als die Wahrheit, premiered. Bohlen did not voice his own role, but voiced the narrator. He wrote and produced the entirety ofthe film's soundtrack, which includes the previously unreleased Modern Talking song "Shooting Star". Later that year, he produced the song "Be My Boyfriend" for the duoIndiggo, which reached the seventh place of the Romanian pre-selection for theEurovision Song Contest 2006. Also in 2006, he published his third book,Meine Hammer-Sprüche.
In 2007, the German installment of theGot Talent franchise,Das Supertalent, was launched with Bohlen as one of the judges. Similarly toDeutschland sucht den Superstar, the fellow judges are changed regularly but he has been a judge each season. In 2008, he published two more books,Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten! Der Weg zum Superstar andDer Bohlenweg: Planieren statt Sanieren.
In 2010, Bohlen began working with Schlager singerAndrea Berg. All of her albums produced by him (Schwerelos,[17]Abenteuer,[18]Atlantis,[19] andSeelenbeben[20]) topped the German and Austrian album charts. He ended their collaboration per email on 17 March 2018.[21] On 3 April 2019, Bohlen and Berg announced they would publish two new songs together.[22]
Bohlen's productions are characterised by simply structured compositions. In the 1980s and 1990s, often working in the studio with Spanish producerLuis Rodríguez, he producedEuro disco andEurodance songs forModern Talking,Blue System, andC. C. Catch withfalsetto choruses. Those choruses were achieved with the help ofsession singers, such asRolf Köhler,Michael Scholz, andDetlef Wiedeke.[23] WithDeutschland sucht den Superstar winners, Bohlen tends to focus onpop ballads.
Copyright expert Paul Hertin from Berlin repeatedly claimed that Bohlen plagiarized several songs and thus breached copyright. For example, Hertin says that Bohlen used the melody ofBabyface's "What If" for the production ofYvonne Catterfeld's "Für dich".[24] Based on Hertin's expert assessment regarding the plagiarism allegations, the Berlin prosecutor's office initiated a preliminary investigation against Bohlen, which was dropped.[25]
Bohlen has been onDeutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version ofPop Idol andAmerican Idol, since the show was launched in 2002. He often makes blunt and controversial comments, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their singing abilities (such as "You sing like a garden gnome on ecstasy" or "Your voice sounds likeKermit getting his arse kicked"), which led to comparisons withSimon Cowell in the German-speaking press.[26] He earns 1.2 millioneuros per season.[27] He has worked with most of the winners and occasionally with other candidates, such asfirst season third-placerDaniel Küblböck, yielding several major hits. Since the show was launched in 2007, Bohlen has also been a judge onDas Supertalent, the German installment of theGot Talent franchise, being the only judge to have been on every season.
Bohlen has signed numerous advertising deals with companies such asMüller Milch,Makro Markt,S.Oliver,O2,Roller (Möbelhaus),Wiesenhof, theDeutsche Bahn, andUnilever. He has been a longtime advertising partner ofCamp David.[28] In 2020, he had been the face of Camp David for 10 years.[29]
Between 2002 and 2008, Bohlen published five books, ranging from autobiographies to advice books. In 2005, he released aperfume namedProvocation.[30] In 2011, he founded the clothing label "Needs Clothing" along with Felix Werner.[citation needed] In 2013, he released a line ofwallpapers through P+S.[31]
From 1983 to 1989, Bohlen was married to Erika Sauerland,[32] whom he had met in 1974 inGöttingen.[33] They have three children: Marc, Marvin, and Marielin.[32] From 1989 to 1996, he was in a relationship with television personality and singerNadja Abd el Farrag, also known under the stage name Naddel.[34] On 13 May 1996, Bohlen married modelVerona Feldbusch in Las Vegas,[35] but they separated after four weeks.[36] The divorce was finalised on 27 May 1997.[37] From 1997 to 2001, he was in a relationship with Abd el Farrag again.[34]
From 2001 to 2006, Bohlen lived with model and dancer Estefania Küster. Their son Maurice Cassian was born on 7 July 2005.[38] Since 2006, he has been in a relationship with Fatma Carina Walz, who he met inMallorca, Spain,[38] where one of the casting events forDeutschland sucht den Superstar was held. They have a daughter named Amelie (born 22 March 2011)[39] and a son named Maximilian (born 7 September 2013).[40]
Bohlen lives in the village ofTötensen near Hamburg.[27] He is left-handed,[41] but was forced to learn how to write with his right hand at grammar school. He plays tennis with his left hand because he started tennis after leaving school. According to an article by theManager Magazine in 2018, Bohlen has a net worth of €250 million, making him one of the thousand richest Germans.[42]
| Title | Charts positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | AUT | SWI | PL | iTunes | |
| Dieter: Der Film soundtrack (2006) | 13[43] | — | — | — | — |
| Dreamcatcher feat. Mark Medlock (2007) | 2[44] | 6[45] | 14[46] | — | — |
| Das Mega Album! (2019) | 4[47] | 7[48] | 9[49] | 46[47] | 1[50] |
| Title | Charts positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | AUT | SWI | FI | iTunes | |
| "You Can Get It" feat. Mark Medlock (2007) | 1[51] | 3[52] | 3[53] | 20[54] | - |
| "Unbelievable" feat. Mark Medlock (2007) | 4[55] | 19[56] | 27[57] | - | - |
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" | Modern Talking |
| "You Can Win If You Want" | ||
| "Cheri, Cheri Lady" | ||
| 1986 | "Brother Louie" | |
| "Midnight Lady" | Chris Norman | |
| "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)" | Modern Talking | |
| 2003 | "We Have a Dream" | DSDS |
| "Take Me Tonight" | Alexander Klaws | |
| "Free Like the Wind" | ||
| "You Drive Me Crazy" | Daniel Küblböck | |
| "Für dich" | Yvonne Catterfeld | |
| 2004 | "Du hast mein Herz gebrochen" | |
| 2007 | "Now or Never" | Mark Medlock |
| "You Can Get It" | ||
| 2008 | "Summer Love" | |
| 2009 | "Anything but Love" | Daniel Schuhmacher |
| 2010 | "Don't Believe" | Mehrzad Marashi |
| 2011 | "Call My Name" | Pietro Lombardi |
| 2012 | "Don't Think About Me" | Luca Hänni |
| 2013 | "Mein Herz" | Beatrice Egli |
| 2016 | "Glücksmoment" | Prince Damien |
| 2019 | "Cherry Lady" | Capital Bra |
| 2020 | "Eine Nacht" | Ramon Roselly |
