Sandy Mölling | |
|---|---|
 Mölling in 2013 | |
| Born | (1981-04-27)27 April 1981 (age 44) Wuppertal, West Germany |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2000–present |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | sandy-moelling |
Sandy Mölling (born 27 April 1981) is a German singer and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the members of the girl groupNo Angels, which were formed in 2000 on the German television talent showPopstars, becoming one of thebest-selling girl groups of European origin of all time.[1] During their hiatus, Mölling released a solo album,Unexpected (2004), which produced the top ten singles "Unnatural Blonde" and "Tell Me", and became a judge on thefourth season ofPopstars.
In 2006, she released her second studio albumFrame of Mind to moderate success and finished third on thedebut season ofLet's Dance. The following year, she became a presenter and actress in several short-living television shows onSat.1,Das Vierte, andVIVA Germany before serving as a judge onDie singende Firma. In 2010, Mölling made her stage debut in the musicalVom Geist der Weihnacht, which led her to parts in productions such asJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat andCabaret. For starring asEliza Doolittle in the 2016Bad Hersfeld revival of the musicalMy Fair Lady, she won theAudience Award for Favorite Actress.
Throughout her career, Mölling has scored four number-one hits and sold over five million albums and singles worldwide.[1] Outside her work in the entertainment industry, she is involved in many charitable activities, promoting various causes, including education, children's care and animal welfare. In 2015, she co-authored the children's bookPumpel, der Baumzwerg along with her mother.
Mölling was born inWuppertal,North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, to Lothar Mölling, a graduate engineer, and his first wife, Dagmar Sprenger-Fuchs, a nurse.[2] She has three brothers, Brian, Kevin and Dustin, and a younger half sister named Melina.[3] After her parents' divorce, Mölling, her mother, and her siblings moved fromRemscheid toKoblenz, where she finished secondary school and later quit thegymnasium to start an apprenticeship as a retail saleswoman at a jeans retailer.[3] Mölling performed in various singing competitions and became a studio singer in her teenage years.
In 2000, Mölling auditioned for the debut installment of the German reality television programPopstars, entering the competition with thousands of other women. She earned a position in the top 30 finalists and immediately travelled toMallorca, Spain to join her competitors for a workshop, where she made it to the final 10 on the show despite her struggles with dancing choreographies. During a special episode in November 2000, jury member Moslener eventually disclosed that Sandy was chosen to become part of the final five-member girl groupNo Angels.
With the final five members of the band in place,Popstars continued tracking the development and struggles of the group who left homes to move into a shared flat nearMunich,Bavaria. However, it took another four months until the band released their debut single "Daylight in Your Eyes", which would subsequently appear on the band's debut albumElle'ments (2001). Both the single and the album became an unexpected but record-breaking success, when both instantly entered the top position on the Austrian, German and SwissMedia Control singles, albums and airplay charts, making No Angels one of the most successful debuts in years.[4]
In the following years, No Angels released another two number-one studio albums,Now... Us! andPure, a live album and a successfulswing album brandedWhen the Angels Swing, totalling twelve singles altogether - including four-number one singles. Eventually selling more than five million singles and albums worldwide, No Angels became the best-selling German girl group to date[1] and the second most successful girl group ofcontinental Europe between the years of 2001 and 2003 afterAtomic Kitten.[1] On 5 September 2003 the four remaining members of the band (Jessica Wahls had left the band following the birth of her first child in March 2003) announced that they would no longer be performing together after three years of continual touring and increasing cases of illness. The release ofThe Best of No Angels in November of the same year marked the end of the band, with each member going their separate ways in early 2004.[1]
A strong opponent of the disbandment of No Angels, Mölling, who felt less exhausted than her former bandmates, launched her solo career only months after the group's final concert.[5] The singer spent much of early 2004 with the recording of her solo debut albumUnexpected which saw her reteaming with No Angels' Scandinavian team of songwriters and producers, includingNiclas Molinder andJoacim Persson of production teamTwin.[6] Produced under the group's former label,Cheyenne Records, it was preceded by the single "Unnatural Blonde" which reached number eight on theGerman Singles Chart and would become the highest-charting single among the solo releases by all former band members. The summer-laid follow-up "Tell Me", a ballad, saw similar success in August of the same year, becoming another top ten hit.[6]
In mid-2004, Mölling along withLukas Loules andUwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen joined the jury onPopstars – Jetzt oder nie!, the fourth season of the GermanPopstars adaptation, becoming the first former winner to serve as a judge.[6][7]Unexpected was released on 13 September 2004 and debuted at number 13 on theGerman Albums Chart. It earned a generally mixed reception from critics who called it uneven and compared the sound to No Angels's latest records.[8] A remix version of the album opener "Unexpected" featuring additional vocals from German rapper Manuellsen, was released as the album's third and final single and served asRhineland-Palatinate's entry at theBundesvision Song Contest 2005 after Mölling had been chosen to represent state at the annual song competition. The singer eventually finished last with 10 points, while the single entered at a moderate number 29 on the German Singles Chart.[9] One of the commercially most successful female singers of the year in Germany, Mölling receivedEcho Award and1 Live Krone nominations in theFemale Artist National categories for her solo efforts.[6]
After a few hosting jobs and a sudden label change Sandy released her minor succeeded second album,Frame of Mind (#53), in May 2006 viaStarwatch Music. The album's first single, "Crash", was a cover version of the same-titled 1988 UK hit (released byThe Primitives) and peaked at number 24 on the German singles chart. Additionally Sandy was seen as a competitor in TV contestLet's Dance, eventually ending third. The album's second single, "Living without You" was released in November 2006 and entered the German Singles Chart at number 36.The song was lyrically dedicated to her step father who died in early 2005.
In mid-2006, Mölling agreed upon former bandmateLucy Diakovska's request to reunite for a musical comeback. However, all band members have affirmed that they will continue to pursue individual careers as solo artists at suitable opportunities. Sandy has also presented three television programmes on two different German networks, includingAutsch TV onDas Vierte and bothDu bist... andDamenwahl on the music channelVIVA.
In 2017, Mölling appeared on the second season of German competitive dancing talent showDance Dance Dance. She was paired with fellowPopstars winnerBahar Kızıl, former member of pop trioMonrose.[10]
Mölling has one son, Jayden Mölling (born 27 March 2009), by her former long-time boyfriend and manager Renick Bernadina, whom she split from in 2008.[10] Since 2009, she has been romantically involved with Canadian songwriterNasri Atweh from production teamThe Messengers. The two met while working on the No Angels albumWelcome to the Dance (2009). In 2015, Mölling relocated toLos Angeles.[11] In October of the same year, she had her second son Noah.[10] Mölling and Atweh were married in 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[11] The family resides inWoodland Hills, Los Angeles.[11]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT [12] | GER [13] | SWI [14] | |||||||||||
| Unexpected |
| 73 | 13 | 91 | |||||||||
| Frame of Mind |
| — | 53 | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT [14] | GER [13] | SWI [14] | |||
| "Unnatural Blonde" | 2004 | 29 | 8 | 41 | Unexpected |
| "Tell Me" | 34 | 10 | 46 | ||
| "Unexpected" (featuring Manuellsen) | 2005 | 52 | 29 | — | |
| "Crash" | 2006 | — | 24 | — | Frame of Mind |
| "Living Without You" | 71 | 36 | — | ||
| International | |
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| Artists | |
| People | |
