Herbert Grönemeyer

Biography

Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer was born on 12 April 1956 in Göttingen and often refers to his personal roots as living in Bochum, where he spent most of his childhood, youth, and early adulthood. His interest in music was sparked at the age of 8, when he started taking piano lessons. Piano classes formed the basis for his work as a pianist and composer at the local theatre Schauspielhaus Bochum. Grönemeyer performed as Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice in 1979 at the City of Cologne Theatre and met his later wife, the actress Anna Henkel, during one of the shootings. He published an album he had recorded with the jazz formation Ocean Orchestra in 1978 and composed music for the film Uns reicht das nicht by Jürgen Flimm. His first solo album Grönemeyer was awarded the Golden Lemon for the ugliest album cover of the year, and his second album Zwo was released in 1981. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Petersen's movie Das Boot, but later concentrated on his musical career. In 1984, he first met success as a musician with the release of 4630 Bochum, which became the best-selling album in Germany that year. He took part in Germany's first major AIDS charity organized by Rosa von Praunheim and performed at the Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival against nuclear power. Grönemeyer composed the film score for the TV film Sommer in Lesmona and received the Adolf Grimme Award in gold. After the Berlin Wall had fallen, Grönemeyer released the album Luxus, which addressed the feelings in East and West Germany. He was the first non-English-speaking artist to perform an unplugged concert for MTV in 1994. In the same year, his brother Wilhelm and his wife Anna died of cancer. It took Grönemeyer a year to resume his work. In 2000, he recorded a concert with a philharmonic orchestra and released the DVD Stand der Dinge. In August 2002, he released his album Mensch (Human), which was awarded Platinum even before release due to advance orders. The single "Mensch" became Grönemeyer's first number one hit in Germany and 1.5 million people saw the 2-year tour. In 2004 and 2006, Grönemeyer recorded songs for the Olympic Games in Athens ("Everlasting") and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany ("Celebrate the Day"), respectively. In March 2007, he released his 12th studio album 12, which was followed by a stadium tour across German-speaking countries. Smaller concerts took place in September in Amsterdam, Munich, Dresden, and London's Royal Albert Hall. The three re-recorded albums What's all this, Luxus, and Chaos for the English-speaking market were met with limited sales success. In January 2010, Grönemeyer performed the anthem "Komm zur Ruhr" as part of the opening ceremony of the "RUHR.2010" – The city of Essen being the "European Capital of Culture 2010" on behalf of the entire Ruhr area. In March 2011, Grönemeyer released his next studio album Schiffsverkehr, which became a number-one-album in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The following 2011 tour of the same name had an audience of 550,000. In February 2013, he released his English-language debut I Walk, which included guest performances from Bono of U2, Anohni Hegarty of Anohni, and James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers.