Dieter Bohlen

Dieter Bohlen
Dieter Bohlen live in Moscow 2009
Background information
Birth name	Dieter Günter Bohlen
Also known as	Eric Styx, Countdown G.T.O, Harvey Howard, Steve Benson Ryan Simmons
Born	7 February 1954 (1954-02-07)
Origin	Berne, Lower Saxony, Germany
Genres	Pop Eurodance Europop Euro disco
Occupations	Songwriter Musician Record producer Singer
Years active	1978–present
Labels	BMG
Associated acts	Modern Talking (Thomas Anders), Blue System, C. C. Catch, Anna Garcia (Sheree), Bonnie Bianco, Chris Norman, Bonnie Tyler, Les McKeown, Dionne Warwick, Smokie, Mary Roos, Marianne Rosenberg, Nino de Angelo, Mark Medlock, Al Martino, Yvonne Catterfeld, Touche, Tony Wegas, The Teens, Roy Black, Errol Brown, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bernd Clüver, Monza, Sunday, Alexander Klaws, Daniel Küblböck, Mehrzad Marashi, Pietro Lombardi, Sarah Engels

Dieter Günter Bohlen (* 7 February 1954, Berne, Lower Saxony, near Oldenburg) is a German songwriter, singer, musician, producer, entertainer, TV personality, and writer. Bohlen is best known for being part of popular pop-duo Modern Talking during 1984–1987 and 1998–2003.

Biography

Bohlen took his Abitur in Oldenburg. His father was a supplier to the construction business. In 1978 Dieter Bohlen was member of the band Monza. In 1981 he was member of trio Sunday, and they had a hit "Hale Hey Louise", which has been covered by Ricky King and others. From 1984 to 1987 and from 1998 to 2003, Bohlen was one half of of the pop duo Modern Talking as producer, songwriter and composer. From 1985 to 1988 he produced and wrote songs for the disco singer C. C. Catch.

In 1988, Dieter Bohlen signed 15 year old singer Anna Garcia whose stage name was "Sheree". Her record did not make a great impression on the German charts.

After the first split-up of Modern Talking in 1987, Bohlen formed Blue System. For most projects Bohlen had session singers for background vocals to produce a high-pitched chorus. He frequently worked the studio with the producer Luis Rodríguez. Rivalen Der Rennbahn is a soundtrack written by Bohlen. It was one of the best-selling albums in 1989 in Germany. Bohlen produced the German boygroup Touché which was founded by one of the group's five members, Karim Maataoui. In 1986, Bohlen wrote and produced Chris Norman's "Midnight Lady" for an episode of the German crime show Tatort. This song that became a major hit in central Europe.

He has been a judge on all the seasons of the talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar and has worked with acts discovered in the show to yield several major hits. He is criticized for controversial and insulting comments ("You sing like a garden gnome on ecstasy", "Your voice sounds like Kermit getting his ass kicked"). Bohlen has also released five books. Two of these are autobiographical and describe his career, romantic involvements and experiences with singers. The first book was an unprecedented success in Germany. Both books were also released as audio books.

In 2006, Bohlen released an album called Dieter: Der Film that was a soundtrack to the movie of the same name.

He has also been a judge the talent show Das Supertalent, the German version of Britain's Got Talent. He is the only judge to be in all the show's series.

Bohlen is the only foreigner ever given the title People's Artist of the USSR (in 1989).

Personal life

Dieter was the son of Edith and Hans Bohlen. He has a sibling, a younger brother named Uwe. He was educated in Oldenberg, Göttingen and Hamburg, culminating in an Economics degree. Bohlen was married to Erika Sauerland from 1983 to 1994 and has three children from this marriage, Marc, Marvin Benjamin and Marielin. Even before he was legally divorced, he lived with – but never married – his new girlfriend Nadja Abd el Farrag , nicknamed Naddel, a pharmaceutical laboratory assistant; she was a background dancer for Blue System at that time. In 1996, he married model and singer Verona Feldbusch but divorced her after thirty days, propelling Verona to celebrity status (she went on to host television shows such as Peep and Veronas Welt). After breaking up with Verona, he eventually returned to Naddel, but the two split up again in 2000. Bohlen and Naddel both confirmed that Bohlen suffered a penile fracture at one of their encounters. Later, Bohlen lived with the 1979 born model Stefanie Küster until 2006. They have one son, Maurice, born mid-2005. He met his current girlfriend Carina in Majorca, Spain, where one of the casting events for Deutschland sucht den Superstar (the German version of Pop Idol) was held. Amelie, was born in 2011, their first child together and Bohlen's fifth child. Bohlen lives in the village of Tötensen near Hamburg.

Discography

No. 1 Hits in Germany

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
Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)
Midnight Lady	Chris Norman
2003	We Have a Dream	DSDS Allstars
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

Artists with Bohlen as producer (selection)

• Peter Alexander
• Thomas Anders
• Lory Bianco
• Roy Black
• Blue System
• Errol Brown
• C. C. Catch
• Yvonne Catterfeld
• Nino de Angelo
• Sarah Engels
• Anna Fantastic
• Millane Fernandez
• Engelbert Humperdink
• Ricky King
• Alexander Klaws
• Daniel Küblböck
• Pietro Lombardi
• Les McKeown
• Al Martino
• Mark Medlock
• Modern Talking
• Chris Norman
• Kevin Reinert
• Daniel Schuhmacher
• Ricky Shane
• Isabel Soares
• Touché
• Indiggo
• Bonnie Tyler
• Wildecker Herzbuben

Awards

• 1985: Goldene Stimmgabel, Most successful composer and producer
• 1989: People's Artist of the USSR
• 1998: VIVA Comet – Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2001: Top Of The Pops Award, Top Artist Germany
• 2003: German Book Prize, Second accoding to the public audience
• 2003: Goldene Feder
• 2003: Media Control Award, 25 Jahre Media Control
• 2003: GQ Man Of The Year
• 2003: Unsere Besten, position #30 as the greatest German ever
• 2003: Bambi, Pop National
• 2004: Echo, best national producer
• 2004: Echo, Single of the year We have a dream
• 2008: Platin-Otto, Lifetime achievement award

Literature

By Bohlen

• Dieter Bohlen, Katja Kessler: Nichts als die Wahrheit, Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86143-4
• Dieter Bohlen, Katja Kessler: Hinter den Kulissen, Blanvalet, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-89830-698-4
• Dieter Bohlen: Meine Hammer-Sprüche, Heyne, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-453-60045-2
• Dieter Bohlen: Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten! Der Weg zum Superstar, Heyne, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-453-60101-7
• Dieter Bohlen: Der Bohlenweg – Planieren statt Sanieren, Heyne 2008, ISBN 978-3-453-15535-0; also as audio by Random House Audio, spoken by Dieter Bohlen, ISBN 978-3-86604-965-9

About Bohlen

• Reginald Rudorf, Frank Farian, Dieter Kaltwasser: Stupid Dieser Bohlen. Die Wahrheit und nichts als die Wahrheit über den Pop-Hochstapler, Franks Kleiner Buchverlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-9809531-0-6

Trivia

• Dieter Bohlen is left-handed, 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 his school years.

External links

• http://www.laut.de/wortlaut/artists/b/bohlen_dieter/
• Dieter Bohlen discography at Discogs