LaFee
Encyclopedia
Christina Klein better known by her stage name
LaFee, is a German
singer/songwriter who has sold more than one million records worldwide. She is most famous in mainland Europe, particularly in German-speaking countries.
near Stolberg in the district of Aachen
, North Rhine-Westphalia
. Her father, Bernd Klein, is German while her mother, Keriakoulla, is Greek. She is the younger of two children. Her older brother is called Andreas.
At the age of nine, she began sending out demo tapes to television shows leading her to perform on three of them. She participated in Kiddy Contest, an Austria
n children's TV singing competition, in September 2004 at the age of thirteen, performing Handy, a parody of Barry Manilow
's Mandy
. It was this television appearance that led to her being discovered by German music producer Bob Arnz. Then she worked on her first album.
was released in 2006 from her debut album LaFee
. Since the start of her career LaFee was supported by the magazine Bravo
and the music channel VIVA. Virus reached fourteen on both the German and Austrian singles chart and her second single, Prinzesschen
(Little princess), reached rank 11 in the German charts. Was ist das (What is that) and Mitternacht (Midnight) were charted in the German and Austrian charts, too.
She released her second album, Jetzt erst recht (Now more than ever) on July 6, 2007, and the album's lead single, Heul doch
(Keep crying), in 2007. Shortly afterwards Heul doch was translated into English as Shut Up for her third studio album. The song reached the German top 10. The album "Jetzt erst recht" charted in the Italian albums chart at #94 and in the French albums chart at #79. It went Platinum in Germany and Gold in Austria.
Her acting debut was on Nina's Welt which was broadcast from November 2006 until the spring of 2007. Later she made an appearance on the German daily soap Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
.
Her biggest gig was on 31 December 2006 New Year's Eve at the Brandenburg Gate
, with more than one million viewers. On 25 August 2007 Klein had a gig as a part of the open-air events at the Brandenburg Gate in front of 119,000 people.
The second single was Beweg dein Arsch (Move your ass) which charted at #21 on the German charts. On 16 November 2007, she released the third single Wer bin ich (Who am I) which reached #25 on the German singles chart and #41 on the Austrian singles chart. In addition, she has received the Echo award for Best Female Singer, Bravo Gold Otto for Best Pop Female Singer and the Jetix Kids' award for Best Solo Act. The album was also re-released as a Bravo special edition with bonus songs on 27 November 2008.
, was released in 2008. It includes songs from the album LaFee and Jetzt erst recht in English. The first single Shut Up is the English version of Heul Doch. The single Shut Up reached number 93 in the German singles chart, which was the lowest chart entry by LaFee. The album, however, with more than 100,000 copies at the time was also the weakest LaFee album. The album reached #21 the German albums chart at #31 on the Austrian albums chart. The song Shut up was first performed on May 30, 2008, at the music festival The Dome.
LaFee's first single, Ring frei
(Clear the ring), from her fourth studio album, Ring frei
, was released on November 21, 2008 and reached #22 in Germany. The album Ring frei was released in Germany on January 2, 2009 and reached #6 on the German albums chart, #21 on the Swiss albums chart and #5 on the Austrian albums chart. The album has also received gold status in Austria and has worldwide more than 100,000 sales. She went on a tour in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2009. After the promotion of the tour she took a break for the first time briefly.
Appeared without any weave LaFee's first greatest hits collection, Best Of – LaFee, was released in November 2009. The album is available as day edition with one CD and as night edition with two CDs. The album was a clear failure.
A re-recorded version of Der Regen fällt
, which originally appeared on her second studio album, Jetzt erst recht, was released as the lead single of the compilation. The song only reached rank 94 in the German singles chart. In Austria and Switzerland, it wasn't listed in the charts. LaFee left her manager Bob Arnz. Her musicians left the group in December 2009 with an announcement on their websites to form a new project, due to different musical orientations. Now she's produced by Jörg Fischer.
has stated on its official site that the new album Frei will be released on July 1.
In a interview with the German magazine Bild the singer said that this new album was really important to her because she has changed a lot since her previous album.
She also explained the reasons behind this break; she said that she was tired of always being away from her home and her friends. She was just a teenager when she began her career and had grown up so fast, without time to think whether she had missed something or not. She was always being told what to do and need to be herself, not mentioning all the gossip that had run between her and her boyfriends.
She admitted she could think about nothing but sleeping for days. So she had split with her old team, her old band and her old manager and had asked her label to change her contract and she was lucky because they said yes.
Finally, she stated that now she's ready to come back with new songs (she wrote three songs by herself and co-wrote another two), themes closer to her like love and growing up and a new, more mature look.
Compilation albums
. She played a girl who has come back to her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend is also the boy in her video for Heul doch / Shut Up.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
LaFee, is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
singer/songwriter who has sold more than one million records worldwide. She is most famous in mainland Europe, particularly in German-speaking countries.
Early life
Klein was born in BüsbachBüsbach
Büsbach is the largest of 17 districts and villages belonging to the German town of Stolberg .- Geography:Büsbach, located on a knoll of limestone, is surrounded by several villages. In the north Münsterbusch is directly neighboured to Büsbach while Breinig and Dorff in southern direction are...
near Stolberg in the district of Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
. Her father, Bernd Klein, is German while her mother, Keriakoulla, is Greek. She is the younger of two children. Her older brother is called Andreas.
At the age of nine, she began sending out demo tapes to television shows leading her to perform on three of them. She participated in Kiddy Contest, an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n children's TV singing competition, in September 2004 at the age of thirteen, performing Handy, a parody of Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
's Mandy
Mandy (song)
"Mandy", originally titled "Brandy", is a song jointly written and composed by Scott English and Richard Kerr."Brandy" had been a hit in 1971 for Scott English in the UK and in 1972 for Bunny Walters in New Zealand...
. It was this television appearance that led to her being discovered by German music producer Bob Arnz. Then she worked on her first album.
2005–2008: Successful debut and second album
LaFee's first single VirusVirus (LaFee song)
"Virus" is a song written by Bob Arnz and Gerd Zimmermann and recorded by German singer LaFee. It was released as the first single from LaFee's debut album LaFee. The single reached fourteen in both the German and Austrian Singles Charts when released in March 2006...
was released in 2006 from her debut album LaFee
LaFee (album)
-Track listing:All songs written by Bob Arnz and Gerd Zimmermann.# "Prinzesschen" - 4:18# "Virus" - 3:56# "Mitternacht" - 4:45# "Wo bist du " - 4:41# "Verboten" - 3:47# "Halt mich" - 3:36# "Das erste Mal" - 3:18# "Du lebst" - 4:24# "Was ist das" - 3:55...
. Since the start of her career LaFee was supported by the magazine Bravo
Bravo (magazine)
Bravo is the largest teen magazine within the German-language sphere. The first issue was published in 1956, subtitled as "the magazine for film and television" . Marilyn Monroe's portrait graced the first published issue, the never-published dummy issue cover displayed Elvis Presley.-History:The...
and the music channel VIVA. Virus reached fourteen on both the German and Austrian singles chart and her second single, Prinzesschen
Prinzesschen (song)
"Prinzesschen" is a song written by Bob Arnz and Gerd Zimmermann and recorded by German singer LaFee. It was released as the second single from Lafee's debut album LaFee...
(Little princess), reached rank 11 in the German charts. Was ist das (What is that) and Mitternacht (Midnight) were charted in the German and Austrian charts, too.
She released her second album, Jetzt erst recht (Now more than ever) on July 6, 2007, and the album's lead single, Heul doch
Heul doch
"Heul doch" and "Shut Up" are rock songs by German singer LaFee. They were written by Bob Arnz and Gerd Zimmermann. The German version of the song, "Heul doch", appears on Lafee's 2007 second studio album Jetzt erst recht where it is the second track...
(Keep crying), in 2007. Shortly afterwards Heul doch was translated into English as Shut Up for her third studio album. The song reached the German top 10. The album "Jetzt erst recht" charted in the Italian albums chart at #94 and in the French albums chart at #79. It went Platinum in Germany and Gold in Austria.
Her acting debut was on Nina's Welt which was broadcast from November 2006 until the spring of 2007. Later she made an appearance on the German daily soap Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten is a German television soap opera.In 1990, the first commercial channel in the Netherlands, RTL 4 had a spectacular ratings success with its soap Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden, a remake of the Australian soap-opera The Restless Years...
.
Her biggest gig was on 31 December 2006 New Year's Eve at the Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
, with more than one million viewers. On 25 August 2007 Klein had a gig as a part of the open-air events at the Brandenburg Gate in front of 119,000 people.
The second single was Beweg dein Arsch (Move your ass) which charted at #21 on the German charts. On 16 November 2007, she released the third single Wer bin ich (Who am I) which reached #25 on the German singles chart and #41 on the Austrian singles chart. In addition, she has received the Echo award for Best Female Singer, Bravo Gold Otto for Best Pop Female Singer and the Jetix Kids' award for Best Solo Act. The album was also re-released as a Bravo special edition with bonus songs on 27 November 2008.
2008–2009: First english album and Ring Frei
Her first English album, Shut UpShut Up (LaFee album)
Shut Up is the third album recorded by LaFee, released on 27 June 2008. The music video for the first single, Shut Up, premiered on 30 May on The Dome...
, was released in 2008. It includes songs from the album LaFee and Jetzt erst recht in English. The first single Shut Up is the English version of Heul Doch. The single Shut Up reached number 93 in the German singles chart, which was the lowest chart entry by LaFee. The album, however, with more than 100,000 copies at the time was also the weakest LaFee album. The album reached #21 the German albums chart at #31 on the Austrian albums chart. The song Shut up was first performed on May 30, 2008, at the music festival The Dome.
LaFee's first single, Ring frei
Ring frei (LaFee song)
"Ring frei" is a song by German singer LaFee. It was written by Bob Arnz, Gerd Zimmermann and Lafee for her fourth studio album Ring frei. The song is the album's second track and it was released as the album's first single on 21 November 2008 ....
(Clear the ring), from her fourth studio album, Ring frei
Ring frei (LaFee album)
Ring frei is the fourth studio album recorded by German singer LaFee. It was released as her third album in German on 2 January 2009.-Track listing:All songs written by Bob Arnz, Gerd Zimmermann and LaFee.# "Intro" - 1:12# "Ring frei" - 3:48...
, was released on November 21, 2008 and reached #22 in Germany. The album Ring frei was released in Germany on January 2, 2009 and reached #6 on the German albums chart, #21 on the Swiss albums chart and #5 on the Austrian albums chart. The album has also received gold status in Austria and has worldwide more than 100,000 sales. She went on a tour in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2009. After the promotion of the tour she took a break for the first time briefly.
Appeared without any weave LaFee's first greatest hits collection, Best Of – LaFee, was released in November 2009. The album is available as day edition with one CD and as night edition with two CDs. The album was a clear failure.
A re-recorded version of Der Regen fällt
Der Regen fällt
"Der Regen fällt" is a song by German singer LaFee. It was written by Bob Arnz, Gerd Zimmermann and Lafee for her second studio album Jetzt erst recht and a new version of the song was released as the first and lead single of her first the best album Best Of - LaFee...
, which originally appeared on her second studio album, Jetzt erst recht, was released as the lead single of the compilation. The song only reached rank 94 in the German singles chart. In Austria and Switzerland, it wasn't listed in the charts. LaFee left her manager Bob Arnz. Her musicians left the group in December 2009 with an announcement on their websites to form a new project, due to different musical orientations. Now she's produced by Jörg Fischer.
2011–present: Ich Bin and Frei
On June 4, Christina presented the new single Ich bin (I Am) at the German show The Dome. It will be available on June 10, and EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
has stated on its official site that the new album Frei will be released on July 1.
In a interview with the German magazine Bild the singer said that this new album was really important to her because she has changed a lot since her previous album.
She also explained the reasons behind this break; she said that she was tired of always being away from her home and her friends. She was just a teenager when she began her career and had grown up so fast, without time to think whether she had missed something or not. She was always being told what to do and need to be herself, not mentioning all the gossip that had run between her and her boyfriends.
She admitted she could think about nothing but sleeping for days. So she had split with her old team, her old band and her old manager and had asked her label to change her contract and she was lucky because they said yes.
Finally, she stated that now she's ready to come back with new songs (she wrote three songs by herself and co-wrote another two), themes closer to her like love and growing up and a new, more mature look.
Discography
Studio albums- 2006: LaFeeLaFee (album)-Track listing:All songs written by Bob Arnz and Gerd Zimmermann.# "Prinzesschen" - 4:18# "Virus" - 3:56# "Mitternacht" - 4:45# "Wo bist du " - 4:41# "Verboten" - 3:47# "Halt mich" - 3:36# "Das erste Mal" - 3:18# "Du lebst" - 4:24# "Was ist das" - 3:55...
- 2007: Jetzt erst recht
- 2008: Shut UpShut Up (LaFee album)Shut Up is the third album recorded by LaFee, released on 27 June 2008. The music video for the first single, Shut Up, premiered on 30 May on The Dome...
- 2009: Ring freiRing frei (LaFee album)Ring frei is the fourth studio album recorded by German singer LaFee. It was released as her third album in German on 2 January 2009.-Track listing:All songs written by Bob Arnz, Gerd Zimmermann and LaFee.# "Intro" - 1:12# "Ring frei" - 3:48...
- 2011: Frei
Compilation albums
- 2009: Best Of – LaFeeBest Of – LaFeeBest Of – LaFee is the first greatest hits compilation from German rock singer LaFee. The album was released on November 27, 2009 by Capitol Records and EMI. The release will be in two different editions, "Die Tag Edition" and "Die Nacht Edition". "Die Tag Edition" will feature one CD of all...
Touring
- 2006: Das Erste Mal Tour
- 2007: Lass Mich Frei Tour
- 2007: Jetzt Erst Recht Tour
- 2008: Birthday Tour
- 2009: Ring Frei Tour
Filmography
LaFee acted in the German daily soap Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten on RTLRTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
. She played a girl who has come back to her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend is also the boy in her video for Heul doch / Shut Up.
- 2006–2007: Ninas Welt
- 2008: Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
- 2012: Hanni & Nanni 2
Awards
- 2008
- Echo award for Best female singer
- Bravo Gold-Otto for Best female pop singer
- Jetix Kids' award for Best solo act
- 2007
- Echo award for Best female singer
- Echo award for Best female newcomer
- Bravo Silver-Otto for Best female pop singer
- Goldene StimmgabelGoldene StimmgabelThe Goldene Stimmgabel is an annual prize awarded within the German music scene.The prizes are awarded according to the number of records sold from October of the previous year to June of the year of the award, as determined by Media Control...
- Kids' Choice award for Favourite singer
- Jetix Kids' award for Hottest singer
Other
- July 4, 2007: Book LaFee – Das erste Mal from Michael Fuchs-Gamböck and Thorsten Schatz
- July 11, 2007: Bravo-LaFee-Special#1