Helene Fischer Biography
Helene Fischer (German: ; born 5 August 1984) is a German schlager singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "Die Krone der Volksmusik" awards and three Bambi awards. She has sold at least 15 million records. In June 2014, her multi-platinum 2013 album Farbenspiel became the most downloaded album ever by a German artist and is currently the sixth bestselling album of all time in Germany. Her signature song "Atemlos durch die Nacht" was the bestselling song in Germany in 2014. She has had the best-selling album of the year in Germany five times, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. She ranked No. 8 on Forbes' list of "The World's Highest-Paid Women In Music 2018", earning US$32 million. Fischer has been referred to as the "Queen of Schlager".
Early life
Helene Fischer was born in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to Pyotr and Marina Fischer. Her father worked as a physical education teacher and her mother as an engineer. Her paternal grandparents were Black Sea Germans who were among those sent to forced settlements in Kazakhstan and Siberia. In 1988, at the age of three-and-a-half, she emigrated with her parents and her six-year older sister to Wöllstein, West Germany.
After graduating from high school, Fischer attended the Frankfurt Stage & Musical School for three years, where she studied singing and acting. During this time, she performed on stage at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, as well as on the stage of the Volkstheater Frankfurt.
Career
During her time at the Stage & Musical School, Fischer's mother secretly copied a demo CD with six of Fischer's songs and sent it to different recording studios to gauge the reaction of professionals.
Fischer's debut on stage took place on 14 May 2005, in a programme by the TV channel ARD. It was a duet with the singer Florian Silbereisen. The two later became a couple.
She has won 17 Echo awards, the "Goldene Henne" award seven times, and the "Krone der Volksmusik" prize four times. All her albums and DVDs have achieved multiple gold and double platinum status. Her songs, with their stories of the everyday worries and woes of home-loving folks, are lyrically close to what could be called "country music" although musically quite different.
Her fanbase extends beyond Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, the United States, and New Zealand.
She released her first English album, The English Ones, on 7 June 2010. The album was produced by Jean Frankfurter: (Erich Ließmann), a German producer, composer and arranger. On singing in English, Fischer commented: "I have always dreamed of singing my songs in another language. English is the language of country, the music that we call Schlager. Language is a tool, but it is important that what you sing comes from the heart – and that is what this album is about".
Fischer on Tour with orchestra May 2011In January 2013, she made her acting debut in an episode of the German TV series Das Traumschiff.
On 4 October 2013, she released her album Farbenspiel in Germany. She went on tour in 2014 and a big stadium tour in 2015. She played in the Olympia Stadium in Berlin in front of 120,000 people. The album received platinum after five days in Germany, Denmark and Austria. Farbenspiel is the most successful release of a German female artist in the first week of release in the last 10 years. To date, over 2.4 million copies of the album have been sold.
On 13 November 2015, Fischer released a Christmas album en*led Weihnachten. It consists of two CDs, the first being Christmas songs sung in German and German dialects, and the second is songs sung in English. The album reached number 1 of the year-end charts in both Germany and Austria and received altogether 14 platinums in both countries. It sold over 1.3 million copies.
In 2016, she sang the German version of "How Far I'll Go" (Ich bin bereit), the *le song of Disney's Moana.
On 12 May 2017, she released her eighth studio album, which bears her own name of Helene Fischer. It was released by Polydor. The album debuted at number one on the Austrian, German, and Swiss Albums Chart and reached the top ten in the Netherlands and the Flemish region of Belgium. In Germany, Helene Fischer sold more than 300,000 copies in its first week of release, making it the highest-selling debut since Herbert Grönemeyer's 2002 album Mensch. It won nine platinums in Germany and Austria and has sold over 1 million copies in both countries to date. She performed all her new songs and several hits from previous albums in the Kesselhaus, Munich and released the album Helene Fischer – Das Konzert aus dem Kesselhaus showcasing this performance. In June 2018, she started her second stadium tour, performing in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Austria. In several locations on this tour, she performed up to five times in a row. Her show was developed together with 45 Degrees of Cirque du Soleil. In October 2018, The New York Times ranked Fischer seventh in terms of the world's biggest touring musician acts of the year. In the 2018 Forbes list of top-earning female artists worldwide, she ranked 8th. This also makes her currently the most successful non-English singer.
Fischer sang at the SnowpenAir 2022 Music Festival in Grindelwald Terminal in the Switzerland Alps. There, she sang the protest song Freiheit (song) as her response to the most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and another forced resettlement by Russia. Fischer wore a blue and yellow ribbon in solidarity with Ukraine, tearfully introduced the song describing the sorrow being experienced by Ukrainian families being resettled and torn apart from each other in war, and sang the song with blue and yellow highlights on the stage.
Die Helene Fischer Show
Fischer hosted the yearly music entertainment show Die Helene Fischer Show: from 2011 to 2019, which was broadcast during Christmas on German public TV. In this show, she performed with various artists, including David Garrett, Michael Bolton, Tom Jones, Max Raabe, Take That, Udo Jürgens, Olly Murs, Andrea Berg, Bryan Adams, Unheilig, Kiefer Sutherland, Freya Ridings, Andrea Bocelli, Nick Carter and Queen. She accompanied Lindsey Stirling with an acrobatic performance.
Discography
Fischer in 2013Main article: Helene Fischer discography- Von hier bis unendlich (2006)
- So nah wie du (2007)
- Zaubermond (2008)
- So wie ich bin (2009)
- Für einen Tag (2011)
- Farbenspiel (2013)
- Weihnachten (2015)
- Helene Fischer (2017)
- Rausch (2021)
Guest appearances and duets
- Eros Ramazzotti: Vita ce n'è – "Per il resto tutto bene" (2018)
- Andrea Bocelli: P*ione – "When I Fall in Love" (2013)
- Michael Bolton: Various duets, e.g. "Make You Feel My Love", "Vivo Per Lei"
- Robbie Williams: The Christmas Present – "Santa Baby" (2019)
- Just Pretend by Elvis Presley and Helene Fischer ft Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tours
- Mut zum Gefühl – Live 2008 (2008)
- Zum ersten Mal mit Band und Orchester Live (2011)
- Für einen Tag Live (2012)
- Open Air-Tour 2013 (2013)
- Farbenspiel Live (2014/2015)
- Helene Fischer Live 2017/2018 (2017/2018)
- Die Stadion-Tour 2018 (2018)
- Rausch Live (2023)
Awards
Bambi
- 2013: for Musik national
- 2014: for Entertainment
- 2017: for Musik National
Echo
- 2009: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
- 2009: for DVD Produktion des Jahres (Mut zum Gefühl Live)
- 2010: for DVD Produktion national (Zaubermond Live)
- 2012: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
- 2013: for DVD Produktion national (Für einen Tag – Live 2012)
- 2013: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
- 2014: for Album des Jahres
- 2014: for Deutschsprachiger Schlager
- 2015: for Schlager
- 2015: for Album des Jahres
- 2015: for Hit des Jahres
- 2015: for Musik-DVD/Blu-Ray national
- 2016: for Musik-DVD/Blu-Ray national (Weihnachten), (Farbenspiel Live)
- 2016: for Album des Jahres
- 2016: for Live-Act National
- 2016: for Crossover
- 2018: for Schlager
Goldene Henne
- 2007: for Aufsteigerin des Jahres
- 2008: for Musik
- 2010: for Leserpreis Musik
- 2012: for Publi*spreis Musik
- 2014: for Musik
- 2014: Superhenne (Special 20th Anniversary Award)
- 2016: for Musik
- 2020: for Entertainment with Die Helene Fischer Show 2019
Goldene Kamera
- 2012: for Beste Musik national
- 2016: for Beliebtester deutscher Musik-Act
Krone der Volksmusik
- 2008: for the Erfolg des Jahres 2007
- 2009: for the Erfolg des Jahres 2008
- 2010: as Erfolgreichste Sängerin 2009
- 2012: as Erfolgreichste Sängerin 2011
Romy
- 2014: as Beliebteste Moderatorin – Show
World Music Awards
- 2014: Best-selling German Artist
Social Engagement and Political Statements
Fischer has generally refrained from making political statements in the past. However, she expressed clear opposition to discrimination, racism, hatred, and violence in an interview with the magazine "Stern." She referred to these as poisonous to society and called for the defense of democratic values, urging people to stand against extremism by participating in elections and not allowing themselves to be intimidated by antidemocratic forces.
Her remarks sparked controversy among her fans, particularly among suspected supporters of the far-right party AfD in Germany, who subsequently spread hateful messages under her Instagram posts and criticized her. On the other hand, she also received support for her outspoken stance against racism and antidemocratic propaganda. Some users praised her for publicly taking a stand and positioning herself against the far-right. The reactions to Helene Fischer's statements reflect a mix of support and opposition. While some fans are grateful for her clear stance, others criticize her for it. Nevertheless, she also received positive feedback, with some individuals declaring themselves as new fans because of her stance against hatred and intolerance. Helene Fischer is not the only celebrity who has spoken out in the "Stern" magazine.
Other well-known personalities such as Udo Lindenberg, Collien Ulmen-Fernandes, Maite Kelly, Roland Kaiser, Mario Barth, Atze Schröder, Florian David Fitz, and Michael "Bully" Herbig have also expressed their opinions on social and political issues.
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helene Fischer.- Official website (in German)
- Helene Fischer at AllMusic
- Helene Fischer at IMDb
