SINGLE “DIE WELT STEHT AUF PAUSE”

(released: 07/30/2021)

It’s those magical moments when nothing else matters but the person we are with at that moment. When we are in the right place at the right time, the world stops spinning – all the weight is off our shoulders and we feel completely free and connected at the same time – connected to the most important person in the world.

This is exactly what Adel Tawil’s new single “Die Welt steht auf Pause” is about – a pop song perfectly suited for summer, which immediately catches the ear on the first time you hear it and celebrates life and love. A love that endures even in times when you can’t be close and adds to the feeling of attraction.

I can hardly stand it, inside me all empty,

We’ve been too far away for too long

But still sparks fly back and forth

And what I feel right now and what you feel right now,

♪ We can’t explain ♪

So, it’s all the better to be able to enjoy the intimate moments together again. Not being able or even wanting to be without the other – the strong feeling of security and safety is not only felt in romantic relationships, but also in friendships, with our parents and grandparents or with our children.

With “Die Welt steht auf Pause” Adel Tawil delivers a very first forerunner from the new album on which he is currently working intensively, and it is another joint work of the already success-tested creative team, consisting of the music producers Andreas Herbig as well as Patrick “Pyke” Salmy and Ricardo Muñoz, who have also recently produced the current hits for the artist Zoe Wees.

Which topics besides love will be important on the album are not revealed for the time being – but one can definitely look forward to it. The musician, songwriter and producer is known for the fact that his German-language songs deal intensively with a wide range of topics, most of which are taken from the heart of life – he also does not stop at socially critical issues.

Adel Tawil is considered the most successful German singer of all time based on the ranking of the official German singles charts. Before his solo career, the Berlin-born singer was one half of the highly successful duo “Ich + Ich” and has won numerous awards for his many hits, including “Stark”, “So soll es bleiben”, “Vom selben Stern”, “Lieder”, “Zuhause”, “Stadt” and “Ist da jemand”.

Known as a humorous and profound all-rounder, the comedian, actor, director and artistic manager reinvents himself once again with “80 plus”: as a singer who doesn’t mince words. To say it accordingly bluntly and clearly: HALLERVORDEN ROCKS – with the support of composer/producer Frank Nimsgern and Thomas Schmidt-Ott (concept & lyrics)!

“Mein Leben”: This is what “My Way” sounds like – à la Dieter Hallervorden

The general thrust of his upcoming “80 plus” album is already indicated by Dieter Hallervorden’s first single, the title of which could also refer to collected works: “My Life. In the song, he discusses his (life’s) role: that of the versatile artist in the changing times, the ever-changing balancing act between clowning and the spirit; he also says thank you for what he has done so far and, in the same breath, demands much more from this life – because the Berliner-by-choice is far from thinking about quitting (there has to be a three-digit number before the “plus”). The first reactions to “Mein Leben” speak volumes: “This is the German ‘My Way’,” is the tenor behind the scenes…

Hallervorden states right at the beginning “Mein Leben/du warst kein Ponyhof” to then address the many, many stations, the countless inspirations and provocations of his unique career. Before the album opener leads into a big guitar solo and sweeping string pads, he once again provides the reason for his gratitude: “I love my life – because I get to play a beautiful role in it.”

On his way to 90, with his sights firmly set on 100 (the time will come in 2035), Dieter Hallervorden steps up to the microphone on “80 plus” with a special request: He presents “his life album. A condensed, set-to-sound balance sheet of the past – which always makes you want to see what’s to come. And as one knows from the actor, comedian and theater director, it is also about building bridges here – between humor and wisdom, playful silliness and provocative announcements. Above all, he shows that this “plus”, clearly perceived by far too many people as a minus after the indication of the decade of life, does not cause him one bit of annoyance – but rather a desire to rock.

Frans Zimmer aka Alle Farben is a phenomenon: Although he is one of the superstar DJs and producers of our time, he is the most down-to-earth guy. When he talks about his plans for the next global mega-hit, he does so with the same charming lightheartedness as he presents his new favorite recipe on his YouTube channel, Alle Farben Kitchen. He loves performing in front of thousands of people, but his personal place of desire is a remote spot on the Thai island of Ko Pha-ngan. He looks back on a whopping 2 billion streams, 32 diamond, platinum and gold awards from Europe to Asia, 12 airplay top 10 hits in Europe and four #1 hits in Germany -¬ but when asked how his friends would describe him, he has a hard time with self-praise, “Hard to say, after all, you don’t go around asking your friends, ‘What do you think of me?’ But I think they would say something like: I’m humble, I love life, I like to party, but I also work a lot. And sometimes I don’t have enough time for them.”

Which is hardly surprising when you consider that Alle Farben plays more than 150 live shows a year in normal times and has already warmed up the crowds at festivals like Tomorrowland, Lollapalooza, Parookaville and Sziget, to name but a few. But even the pandemic hasn’t stopped him from doing what he loves: “I’ve learned an extreme amount during this time. Not only about myself, but I also acquired new skills. I was cooking a lot, I wanted to get better, I wanted to professionalize it. I did a lot of music, online writing camps. So there’s been a whole lot going on, even though everything felt like it was at a standstill,” he reports, adding, “But most of all, we’ve been trying to stay in touch with fans through social media and with livestreams.”

A close connection to his listeners and fans has always played a big role in Alle Farben’s artistic self-image, as he was a music listener and fan himself before he decided to give djing and producing a try. Born on June 5, 1985 in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, where he still lives today, he grew up in a family of artists. His musician-brother awakened his first love for music by making mixtapes for Frans’ Walkman and introducing him to Depeche Mode and The Cure. In the early 2000s, Frans spent countless hours in Berlin record stores, rummaging through crates for house and electro sounds, until he finally recorded his own first mixtape, which he uploaded to SoundCloud.

He started calling himself Alle Farben (a nod to the famous Austrian painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser) and played his first gigs in Berlin’s LGBTQI+ scene before increasingly making a name for himself on a broader level. Finally, in 2014, he landed his first big hit with “She Moves.” “It was an exciting, crazy time,” Alle Farben recalls. After several more hits (“Supergirl,” “Bad Ideas,” “Please Tell Rosie,” “Fading,” “Only Thing We Know,” “Little Hollywood,” to name a few), superstar collaborations with Robin Schulz, James Blunt, Steve Aoki and Icona Pop and remixes for Marshmello, Khalid, Martin Garrix and Little Mix, he’s now ready to embark on the next chapter of his groundbreaking career after signing with Warner Music Germany.

“Musically, I’ve stayed close to my roots, but I’ve got less of an organic sound to it,” he says of his upcoming studio productions. “You can still hear the trumpet in it, it’s still danceable, electronic and I still want to bring a summer feeling into your heart. And I always have special voices on it, that’s what makes my sound and my music.” Alle Farben is a people person in the best sense, which is why traveling and making new contacts are among his biggest inspirations. That and his own blooming imagination – after all, he doesn’t call himself Alle Farben for nothing.

“When I’m working on a song, I always imagine: where do you hear this song? And the ideal situation for that is: In a convertible, you’re cruising past the fields, the wind is blowing through your hair and the sun is shining in your face.” Who wouldn’t love to join him on this joyride?

Danceable electro beats meet catchy pop melodies, club vibes meet atmospheric R’n’B and hip-hop influences: GLASPERLENSPIEL means intelligently produced urban pop with lots of exciting rough edges. After Carolin Niemczyk and Daniel Grunenberg have established themselves as one of Germany’s most successful electropop formations, the duo is releasing a high-profile pop collaboration with successful rapper Moe Phoenix just in time for the start of 2021. The single “Sonne” is about a lack of warmth and too little in-between, especially after this winter and the flood of bad news. The absolutely positive song symbolizes the very important cut for consciousness and confidently allows a glimpse of golden days.

GLASPERLENSPIEL have been awarded eight gold and three platinum records for their four albums released to date. Their 2015 smash hit “Geiles Leben” from the gold-awarded longplayer “Tag X” stayed in the German singles charts for more than a year without interruption. After more than 150 million audio and video streams and over one million units sold, “Geiles Leben” was awarded a Diamondaward. That was followed in 2018 by the fourth studio album “Licht & Schatten”, whose singles such as “Royals & Kings” or “Du bist” fit seamlessly into the success story. With their sold-out club and hall tours and at performances at well over 100 festivals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, GLASPERLENSPIEL have so far thrilled millions of fans – and will continue to do so in their DJ sets on the WILLKOMMEN ZURÜCK TOUR 2021.

As breakout’s go, Nathan Evans’ is remarkable. Just six months ago, the 26-year-old was a Glasgow postman. Today, he’s a certified multi-platinum recording artist; the breakthrough British act behind the UK’s biggest selling domestic single of the year.

Now signed to Polydor / Interscope, his second single released 25 June – “Told You So” – a sure fire soundtrack to the summer, set to become his next unstoppable anthem as lockdown lifts.

Evans single-handedly captured the world’s attention with his masterful harmonies when he uploaded a traditional sea shanty to TikTok. Remixed by 220 KID & Billen Ted, it quickly became his debut single, Wellerman, which turned into an instant international sensation: topping the charts in ten countries while clocking up well over a staggering half a billion streams. Evans has “soared into the stratosphere”, said Rolling Stone.

“It’s like I’ve been standing in the middle of a tornado,” says Evans, “watching everything around me be thrown around. The last few months have been a dream, hearing my voice all over the globe.

Now Evans is in the studio, working on his debut album, and this summer he’ll play a series of festivals before embarking on a 21-date European tour.

“It’s been fun to ride the sea shanty wave, but I’ve spent years learning my craft as a musician. Now it’s time to share my own sound.”

Berlin-based Zimbabwean-British singer-songwriter Kelvin Jones will provide the audience with soulful guitar sounds on New Year’s Eve. His song “Call You Home” became a viral internet hit in 2015 and made him internationally famous.

Music and family have always meant everything to Daði Freyr. They are the two essential factors that inspire and motivate him to pursue his ambitions and that closely connect him to his beloved Iceland and the close-knit communities he has always admired.

Daði Freyr is an artist who enjoys studying and dissecting the intricate art of the three-minute pop song, he is an avid student of the fascinatingly diverse annual explosion of pop that is Eurovision. Daði’s 2021 Eurovision entry 10 Years radiates a joyous party atmosphere, embracing the harmonious, glorious festivity that the contest offers each May, while contributing some truly authentic and innovative sounds to the competition.

The road to Rotterdam began in Daði’s studio in Berlin. As a typical emigrant from Iceland, he carries a piece of his home island in his heart wherever he is. Working in the smallest of spaces in his apartment, Daði Freyr takes an inventive and do-it-yourself approach, analyzing melody, rhythm and lyrics with dedication to lead them to new adventures in sound texture and musical inventiveness.

In 2020, Daði won RÚV’s Icelandic Eurovision pre-selection contest Söngvakeppnin with the pure pop song “Think About Things.” The entry was directly inspired by changes in his life, as he had recently become a father and consequently wondered what his young daughter would end up thinking about things. The resulting hit song brought Daði even closer to the people around him. Although there was no competition in Rotterdam last year, “Think About Things” became an infectious dance sensation: the song was listened to over seventy million times on Spotify and the official music video was viewed over twenty-five million times on YouTube. In the charts the song reached the Top 40 in the UK and Sweden and the Top 3 in Iceland and Ireland.

Daði was eager to compete again at Eurovision and was chosen internally by RUV to continue the successful work at this year’s contest: 10 Years continues Daði’s musical commentary on his family, this time focusing on his decades-long relationship with his beloved wife Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir.

Árný Fjóla is one of the members of Gagnamagnið (“Data Plan”). His sister Sigrún Birna Pétursdóttir does the backing vocals and friends Hulda Kristín Kolbrúnardóttir, Stefán Hannesson and Jóhann Sigurður Jóhannsson complete the grooves and moves in the remaining line-up. The chorus in the song is sung by 1000 people from all over the world. Daði even got his parents to sing along. Both of Daði’s Eurovision songs are pop songs that are bursting with irresistible joy and are meant to bring all of Europe together as well as connect three generations of his own family.

10 Years is an impeccably put together piece of pure pop-funk. Each instrument is given space to express its individuality and Daði glides smoothly from the intro into the delightfully catchy chorus: from the multi-layered breakdown to the eye-winking wind machine part, the song is ready to be embraced by the rest of Europe with an impressive live performance.

Daði has once again collaborated with Icelandic director Guðný Rós Þórhallsdóttir and cinematographer Birta Rán Björgvinsdóttir to turn his vision into reality, creating his own choreography. This time the video is 10 times bigger. An idea for a video that Daði had for a long time but never dared to realize – until now.

Daði was scheduled to embark on a sold-out European tour in March and April 2021 but unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. His extensive tour of the UK has now been rescheduled for late fall, beginning November 18 at the O2 in Birmingham.

Michael Patrick Kelly has dared to do a lot in his life so far. At only 10 days old he was already on stage, at 15 he wrote the world hit “Angels” and sold 20 million records with the Kelly Family in his teens. After years of time out in a monastery, he returned to the music business and is more successful than ever as a solo artist.

His album “iD” stayed in the charts for 70 weeks and is climbing towards double platinum. With radio hits like “iD”, “Roundabouts” and “Et Voila”, the songwriter and producer with the unmistakable 4-octave voice is one of the most established artists in the country. His “iD-Live” tour attracted almost 500,000 visitors.

It is also hard to imagine television without him: he was a coach on “The Voice of Germany” and this year he is already competing in the 3rd round of the popular music show “Sing meinen Song”. As host of the 7th season, Michael Patrick Kelly invited six artists to South Africa: Max Giesinger, Nico Santos, Ilse DeLange, Motrip, Jan Plewka and Lea.

Art Garfunkel jr. (*1990) has lived and loved German Schlager for half his life: Now he takes a bow to his father’s iconic classics – on the German-language tribute album “Wie Du – Hommage an meinen Vater” (Like You – Homage to My Father), which combines beautiful cover duet versions and will be released on 29.10.21 by Telamo.

The New York native is supported by a number of top-class guests, a veritable who’s who of the German pop world: Marianne Rosenberg, Eloy de Jong, Ross Antony, Frank Schöbel, René Kollo, Stefan Mross & Anna-Carina Woitschack, Lucas Cordalis, Bernhard Brink, Olaf Malolepski (Olaf der Flipper) – and Art Garfunkel senior.

Junior certainly didn’t rush things: the long, heavyweight guest list of his tribute album alone underlines that Art Garfunkel Jr. has given this great project enough space to emerge and develop. He takes the iconic compositions and transfers their original translations to very different corners of Germany – working with very different artists, from North as well as South, East as well as West, from quite a few generations and genre corners, and together they bow down to these classics.

“It is a mere tribute album in the truest sense of the word. I bow to my father and the many, many great things he did,” he then clarifies and goes on to talk about his grandmother, with whom he always spoke German when he was a little boy. As a teenager, he finally went to Germany to find himself, as all adolescents do, but “now I’m going back to the roots: I’m opening up again to those earliest influences… because I’m also just too big a fan of my father’s music.”

They are all stunning classics: Right at the beginning, the Condor makes its rounds (“El Condor Pasa”), whereby the junior already clarifies after a few bars how much richer such a production can sound in the year 2021 – thanks to his good friend, the successful hit producer Felix Gauder, who produced the tribute album with a lot of tact. After Garfunkel senior also contributes individual passages in English – he’s the album’s special guest who pops up every now and then – it continues with “Wie Du” (“Bright Eyes”): “free, but with a purpose”, is the vision in this instance, which Marianne Rosenberg sings about together with the 30-year-old.

While this duet was recorded in the legendary Hansa Studios, individual sessions also took place in New York, after which the finishing touches were made in Stuttgart.

Art Garfunkel jr. was able to bring in very different facets thanks to the inspiring collaboration with no less than 10 renowned colleagues from the German music world: While he sometimes stays pretty close to the original (e.g. “The Sound Of Silence”, “El Condor Pasa”), he occasionally moves quite far away from the original. “Yes, for example ‘Cecilia’ with Ross Antony: it sounds really tropical, like we’re chilling on the beach – the vibe is really really cool and works wonderfully in its own way,” says Art, who can also surprise again and again as a singer in the course of the LP, “because every song is in a different vocal style.”

His eyes light up at every name of the participants. Frank Schöbel, for example, “is a living legend – especially in the East. I sang ‘Wieder daheim’ with him, my version of ‘Homeward Bound’, and I’m really proud of it,” says Art, who also focuses more on the exuberance factor here – discreet Mediterranean feeling included.

As for the other guests, who also tend to come from his father’s generation – René Kollo as the oldest (“Scarborough Fair”), Marianne Rosenberg or Olaf der Flipper, for example – they were particularly enthusiastic, “after all, they have a particularly close relationship to the songs. They all thought it was great to have these classics in front of them again. And I am very grateful to all of them that they wanted to work with me on this project.

While he and his father and Dutch #1 hitmaker Eloy de Jong take the multi-Grammy-winning anthem “Bridge Over Troubled Water” into polyphonic waters, Stefan Mross and Anna-Carina Woitschack also provide double reinforcement for the carefree “Morning Has Broken”. Lucas Cordalis is a perfect match for the singer simply because he is “also such a junior: here two juniors sang the ‘Boxer’, that was so much fun” – and at the same time helped shape the core message of the album: “The boxer – he stays in the ring. No matter what happens. That’s the core message of this record for me,” says Garfunkel jr. who sings “I Am Alone on an Island” (“I Am A Rock”) exceptionally without a guest.

It also “clicked” immediately with Bernhard Brink in the studio: “When the two of us sing, it blends so perfectly,” he is pleased about the gripping interpretation of “Du sollst die Tränen niemals sehen” (“Crying In The Rain”). “You can hardly imagine that!”

With Olaf Malolepski (Olaf der Flipper), another absolute hero of the US-born Berliner-by-choice is there to give “Mrs. Robinson” a whole new lease of life: “When you hear the word Schlager, what pops into your head? The Flippers and Olaf Malolepski, of course. You can’t get more Schlager than that! I love their music… and Olaf: that’s Schlager for me! And I’m so proud that he’s also on my album. Such a great, nice, down-to-earth guy.” He finally closes the album together with his father again: “Raum des Schweigens” – “The Sound Of Silence”.

Art Garfunkel Jr., who has been living in Europe for 15 years, couldn’t have given his father a bigger present for his 80th birthday: “He’ll be 80 on 05 November – and he really wants to come,” says the son-man, looking forward to Daddy’s round birthday. “64 years of which he was on stage! Unbelievable! This album is my birthday present for his 80th!”

Art Garfunkel Jr. was born in Manhattan in 1990, the first child of Art Garfunkel and Kathryn Garfunkel. He spent most of his childhood and youth in the USA. His grandparents also had German roots, so he learned the German language at a young age and built up a strong connection to Europe. Art Garfunkel Jr. also became interested in German Schlager and folk music at a very early age, which is why he often spent his holidays in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Having already toured Germany with his father in 2018 and 2019, he now takes a bow to the oeuvre of Mr. Garfunkel sr. – on his new tribute album “Wie Du – Hommage an meinen Vater”.

To mark her 50th stage anniversary, Marianne Rosenberg is releasing an extended anniversary edition of her current #1 album in September, where the Berlin singer traces the early years of her exceptional career, puts selected classics in a new light – and of course also looks to the future. So she is expanding the current hit album with a whole dozen exclusive anniversary tracks: a continuation of the “Marleen Story”, lyricised by the original author (“Marleen – ein halbes Leben später”) is just as much a part of it as 100% contemporary new interpretations of milestones like “Er gehört zu mir”. To make the anniversary package perfect, Marianne Rosenberg also presents exclusive Jubilee remixes as well as four brand new tracks. Enhanced with a personal greeting in the liner notes and selected quotes from her songs, the 2CD anniversary edition of “Im Namen der Liebe” will be released by LOLA/TELAMO on 18 September 2020.

Part 1 of the edition is the album that, 50 years after the first recordings, was to bring her the very first #1 chart entry in the Official German Album Charts. Already on “Im Namen der Liebe” Rosenberg and her team succeeded again and again impressively in letting the cornerstones of her classic sound shine through while sounding absolutely contemporary and authentic. The album was recorded in the legendary Hansa Studios where Marianne Rosenberg produced her first album in 1970.  The first single, “Wann (Mr. 100%)”, which has since had a solid 2.5 million views, was an immediate hit. The title song is more than romance. Marianne Rosenberg is also concerned with empathy, with compassion, with a togetherness that is increasingly coming under attack … and with a statement that implies a desire for change: “Hate has never conquered hate, let it be love”.
The grand dame of German pop had ended the “Im Namen der Liebe” long player with the questions “Where are our visions? Where are we?”, the answer now follows in the anniversary package: True to herself, her gut feeling, her city, her first studio, (after phases of conscious abstinence) also her earlier hits, Marianne Rosenberg has achieved everything 50 years later, moved a great deal, no longer has to prove anything to herself – and sounds even more passionate precisely for that reason. The vision? Absolutely contemporary songwriting, paired with honest words. Music that inspires people because it comes from the heart and is sung with the heart.
“… half a century is no mean feat,” the Berlin singer puts it bluntly in the liner notes – and it really isn’t, which is wonderfully underlined by the second CD of the edition. The singer opens the bonus package, which includes a whole dozen exclusive titles, with an update on “Marleen (half a century later)”. Three new interpretations – all Seventies superhits penned by Joachim Heider and Christian Heilburg – continue the album’s ingenious balancing act: “Ich bin wie du” (I’m like you) is a secret YouTube hit for a reason; for the update, she underpins the fast-paced swing with contemporary beats and grooves that give the cult hit “Er gehört zu mir” (He belongs to me) a Motown touch. Songs of the Night” also treads the fine line between closeness to the original and a departure into the future: it sounds so much more high-resolution and large-format when Marianne Rosenberg sings in 2020 about being “set on love from head to toe”, although the phrasing, the vocal colour is still the same.
Her sound in her anniversary year sounds as mature and grounded as her world view, only she doesn’t give herself a bit less passionately because of it: the programmatic “Ich bin wieder ich”, like many of the brand-new bonus tracks composed together with her son Max, continues the theme of love in the overarching sense of the current album and, as with many songs from her pen, allows at least a second level of interpretation. The ballad “The Heart”, recalls her adoration of the Beatle’s “Mr Paul McCartney”, to whom she dedicated her first recorded song of her career. “Only he who loves has the courage to give”.

The outstandingly arranged and produced song “Er war wie du” (He was like you) also harks back to the classic Rosenberg sound, whereas “Stärkste Nacht meines Lebens” (Strongest night of my life) takes place much more clearly in the now of the pop world: electrifying, playful, never too heavy. Finally, the song from “Für immer du”: Less is more in the minimalist, deliberately tidy verse, only to turn up the regulator full blast for the chorus – made for the club. The bonus disc of the anniversary edition is rounded off with the two “Jubilee mixes” “Gemeinsam sind wir stark” and “Im Namen der Liebe”, as well as a DJ heartbeat mix of “Wann (Mr. 100%)”, which unfold all their dance floor magic here. Even the burning topical core message of the title song becomes a dancefloor anthem here – “let’s go!”

Raised in a Berlin family of artists, Marianne Rosenberg was discovered at the tender age of 13 in a young talent competition. Her debut single “Mr. Paul McCartney” already hit the zeitgeist, which she was to shape like no other singer in the seventies with iconic hits such as “Er gehört zu mir”, “Lieder der Nacht” and “Marleen”. In the following decade, she went new ways, worked with Extrabreit and Rio Reiser, for example, and became an icon of the gay movement. Marianne Rosenberg was also musically convincing in genres such as electropop, jazz and chansons and was also successful as a presenter, dubbing artist and book author parallel to her many, many hit releases. With the studio album “Im Namen der Liebe” (In the Name of Love), released in March 2020, she returned to her roots and presented herself and her fans with the very first #1 chart entry in the Official German Album Charts, just in time for this year’s stage anniversary.

In the personal liner notes, Marianne Rosenberg explains “I wanted to love the music I make… and I always have.” – and it is this love, which can be felt in her musical look at the road she has travelled, that makes the new anniversary edition so unique.

Which band is better? The Backstreet Boys or N*Sync? Who is the most talented singer? Gary Barlow from Take That or Brian Harvey from East 17? And who provides the most broken teenage hearts? Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys or Robbie Williams from Take That? These questions defined the lives of countless young music fans during the 1990s and early 2000s, as boy bands worldwide provided chart records, sold-out tours and frenetic followers fully immersed in that special world.

If only there were a group that united all the top bands and unleashed the ultimate boy group power into the music world … That’s what many fans were longing for at the time – and that’s exactly the wish that is finally about to come true! Because the new boy band TEAM 5ÜNF releases with Einmal Boyband und zurück (VÖ 03.09.21) a debut album that takes fans of Take That, N*Sync and Co. on a musical time travel of the extra class and brings the hype of that time in the present.

“Einmal Boyband und zurück” – an album title that couldn’t be more fitting. After all, four of the five members come from former boy bands. With Jay Khan and Marc Terenzi, TEAM 5ÜNF is led by Germany’s two best-known ex-boyband members (US5 and Natural). The exceptional singers and their band colleagues travel back to the time when the boy band boom had the music world firmly in its grip and bring this very special attitude to life into the here and now. TEAM 5ÜNF inspires their fans with much more than just cover versions. By interpreting the famous world hits in German for the first time and adding a unique mix of the most diverse boy band styles, Jay, Marc, Joel, Sven and David succeed in creating originals that merge the boy band magic of the nineties with the here and now.

With “Einmal Boyband und zurück”, a unique band project has emerged, in which each of the five thoroughbred musicians incorporates his or her own unique style: “The individual voices naturally also live from their respective influences. David, for example, is very RNB-influenced and vocally goes in the direction of a Justin Timberlakes of N*Sync. Joel also serves the typical Backstreet Boys and N*Sync sounds vocally. Sven has a very distinctive voice, reminiscent of the British style of Blue or Westlife. Marc impresses with a very traditional soprano voice, which is of course influenced by his time with Natural. But you can also directly hear rocky notes out. I would describe myself in the whole as a classic all-rounder. I have been inspired by all the boy bands over the decades. Simply because I love this genre so much,” says Team 5ünf member Jay Khan, summing up the different influences that make up the band. It is the love and unbridled enthusiasm for boy bands that gave the singer-songwriter the idea about two years ago to launch a group that transports the nineties boom into the 2020s. The starting signal for a musical journey through time had been given – once boy band and back.

14 tracks provide on “Einmal Boyband und zurück” for heart palpitations of passionate boy band fans, because alone the titles of the individual songs immediately suggest which new interpretations of a boy band classic were wrapped by TEAM 5ÜNF in a new garment. With German lyrics and a lot of vocal power, emotions and unique boy band vibes, the greatest hits from back then are brought into the year 2021 – once a boy band and back.

Thus, “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” by the Backstreet Boys Brich mir mein Herz nicht noch mehr. From “Back for Good” by Take That Come back to me. From “Stay Another Day” by East 17 Stay. Tracks that immediately capture the very special magic of that time. With German lyrics. With an infinite amount of feeling. With the ultimate boyband power. From the pen of the person who has the boyband gene in his blood: Jay Khan.

Take Thats lead singer Gary Barlow once sang the legendary lyrics “Whatever I said / whatever I did / I didn’t mean it / I just want you back for good”. Songwriter Jay Khan succeeded in giving the first single Komm zurück German-language lines that lose neither emotionality nor passion, but rather create a very unique world of feelings in which fans can let themselves fall:

Was immer geschah,
was immer ich tat,
es war aus Liebe.
Komm schon,
komm zurück zu mir.

If you used to cry to the songs of the Backstreet Boys, dance to the tracks of East 17 and feel the messages of Caught in the Act, you can give free rein to these emotions once again with Einmal Boyband und zurück. Danceable tracks like “Relight my Fire” by Take That or “Step by Step” by New Kids on the Block meet sensitive songs like “I want it that way” by the Backstreet Boys or “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” by Blue, to end up with the all-encompassing boy band message: Love is everywhere by Caught in the Act:

Liebe überall,
ein Herz Signal
Spürst du‘s auch,
du musst nicht alleine sein
Liebe überall,
ein lauter Knall
Dreh dich um,
wann immer du einsam bist.

Equipped with professionalism, talent and that very special boyband magic, TEAM 5ÜNF has succeeded in turning supposed cover versions of big boyband hits into originals – and yet another original can be found on Einmal Boyband und zurück. A self-written song that comes up with a fiery mixture of composition and emotion: Dynamite. A track that is deliberately not a reinterpretation of a boy band classic. “The beauty of Dynamit is that we didn’t want to produce a conventional hit pop number. The mission was to compose a number that would not initially be ‘exposed’ as its own number at all, but rather give listeners the feeling of being another boy band hit. In a way, the track is a self-written homage to the nineties era around the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync”, Jay Khan describes the genesis of the song he wrote for TEAM 5ÜNF.

Once a boy band and back – this is the message TEAM 5ÜNF stands for. The band that breathes new life into the boy band magic of yesteryear. The band that stands for the magic boy band number: five. Five characters. Five styles. Five musical influences. That is TEAM 5ÜNF. That’s Once a Boyband and Back.

Which decade stands for the wackiest hairstyles, the flashiest outfits and the most epic music videos? Definitely: the 80s. No decade saw so many new genres blossom and no decade produced so many crazy styles. It was in this creative environment that Bonnie Tyler had her worldwide breakthrough.

Her new album “The Best Is Yet To Come” picks up exactly where her smash hits “Holding Out For A Hero” and “Total Eclypse Of The Heart” left off.
On 8 June, the 80s icon celebrated a special milestone: her 70th birthday. But Bonnie Tyler is unstoppable: “I’m not going to retire. I have no plans to retire. As long as I’m healthy, I’ll be on the road somewhere.”

The First Lady of Pop/Rock Bonnie Tyler has had a remarkable career spanning 5 decades. She has written music history with her unique voice. With her unique talent, she created the hits that have shaped an entire era and has sold over 100 million records to date. The album “The Best Is Yet To Come” was released in February 2021 and is the follow-up to her successful studio album “Between The Earth And The Stars”.
“The Best Is Yet To Come” represents Bonnie’s sound today that still evokes the passion, energy and fun of the glorious 80s. The renewed collaboration with her long-time producer David Mackay produced an album that is in no way inferior to its predecessors. Her last album “Between The Earth And The Stars” showed her radiance as a true icon with guest appearances by Rod Stewart, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, Cliff Richard and Francis Rossi of Status Quo. It reached her highest chart position in Europe in the last 30 years. On “The Best Is Yet To Come” Bonnie Tyler proves that she knows how to record a stunning album even without guest stars.
Bonnie explains: “I couldn’t wait to sing for you all over the last ten long and scary months. I know some of you are suffering from the virus and the loss of family members, friends and for that I am deeply sorry. Music can make everything a little easier and for me it is always a retreat. I hope these new songs will cheer you up. I am really happy and proud of this new album. It just rocks and always puts a smile on my face when I listen to it. The moment when we can finally stand on a stage again and see your smiling faces will be very special. I promise: the best is REALLY yet to come!”

Alexander Knappe’s vita is as complex and contradictory as he is. It has rough edges, breaks and aberrations that have audibly shaped the 35-year-old. Early on, Knappe refused the artificial build-up to everybody ́s next pop star and the fast-moving short-term fame that comes with it. He preferred to follow his gut feeling instead of lucrative bait offers from dubious businessmen. Even if it might have hurt him at first. It did him no harm. Quite the opposite. “No one can tell you which is the best path in life,” Knappe continues. “Some paths take longer, others are shorter and perhaps rockier. Mistakes are part of it. Although I don’t want to talk about mistakes, but about important experiences. Without challenges and risks, you can’t learn anything; you can’t develop.” Determination and honesty, which you can clearly hear in his music. In 2020, Alexander Knappe has embarked on the next stage of his path.

A path that began in Cottbus at the age of only 12. Back then, the teenager admired the Capo, the lead singer at football matches of his club Energie Cottbus. Every Saturday afternoon at the stadium, he is deeply impressed by the forces that can be magnetised in the block by the collective fan chants; “actually nothing more than a gospel choir in American churches”. But Alexander is also an ace at sports himself. First as a track and field athlete, a little later a promising football career with his home club is opened up to him – and even more. At 13, he was sent to Berlin to train for the national youth team (where he met a certain Marteria, who would later also make a name for himself on a different playing field). At the age of 18 he suffered the sudden disaster that every athlete fears: Ruptured cruciate ligament. The end.
But at almost the same moment, another door opens. Like so many times in his life.

Fresh out of hospital Alexander spontaneously takes part in a radio casting in 2010 and is invited by a producer to audition for “X Factor”. Initially euphoric about his participation, later no longer really convinced, he fakes an injury – and is exposed! Unwillingly, he provides the VOX format with the scandal it was waiting for. After being thrown out, he receives countless calls from various managers and producers. His debut album “Zweimal bis unendlich” was released in summer 2012 and charted at number 21 in the German long-play hit parade. After performances with the Cottbus Philharmonic State Theatre, the follow-up “Die Zweite” is released in autumn 2014, followed two years later by the live album “Musik an. Welt aus” follows two years later. In spring 2018, Alexander Knappe’s latest album to date, “Ohne Chaos keine Lieder”, was released, shooting to number 6 in the German charts and earning Knappe a celebrated slot opening for A-Ha.

“Ohne Chaos, keine Lieder” (no chaos, no songs) – another artistic philosophy that runs like a thread through Alexander Knappe’s actions. Although all the songs represent snapshots of his emotions and experiences, no title could better capture the free spirit of the long-time Berliner-by-choice. An avowed fighter, he rises to new heights with every challenge. “In my eyes, the aspiration of every artist must be to want to change something. Maybe even the whole world. Even if it means getting kicked in the teeth sometimes,” Knappe continues.
An irrepressible power with which Alexander Knappe carries his listeners along. “I am my own psychologist. My songs are never pure entertainment, but always convey a message that is close to my heart. My lyrics are often about personal weaknesses and about being a better person. People say that I provoke chaos so that there is material for new songs. That might be true. My curse and blessing is to never stop and always look for the next adventure. A little restless and naive in a positive way.”

Alexander Knappe hosts the weekly music show “Die Knappe Stunde” on BB Radio and organises regular events in his hometown of Cottbus. He is currently working on his new, as of yet untitled album, which is planned for the beginning of 2021.

Tom Beck began his musical career with his musical studies. After a few years on stage and on the road as a solo entertainer, he signed on for the lead role alongside Erdogan Atalay in the popular RTL series “Alarm für Cobra 11” – for 5 years he thrilled fans as chief inspector Ben Jäger, who also liked to pick up the guitar in his series role.
 In 2011 he released his first single “Sexy” followed by his debut album “Superficial Animal” which shot to number 36 in the German album charts.
The multi-talented artist opened Rock am Ring on the Alterns Stage in 2011 and was even signed up again the following year.

When Beck decided to leave the series in 2013, he wrote the song for his last episode “Highway Kings” and quickly moved from TV to the cinema screens and to the stage for his concerts and festivals.

After his second studio album “Americanized” in 2012, which still shows clear country influences, Beck is continuously in front of the camera for cinema productions such as “Schussmacher”, “Vaterfreuden”, “Irre sind Männlich”, “Alles ist Liebe” or “Männertag”, but also for popular TV entertainment formats such as “Schlag den Star”, “TV total Stockcar Crash Challenge” or the “TV total pokerstars.de Nacht”.

After a feature-length pilot, the likeable Nuremberg native returns to TV screens in 2017 in a series format. As Einstein’s great-great-grandson, he takes on the lead role in the Sat1 series of the same name.

2020 was all about music. Tom wins the 2nd season of “The Masken Singer” (ProSieben) and releases his 4th studio album “4B”.

Among other productions, he spends five months in front of the camera in Munich in 2021 for the lead role in the new RTL+ series “Friedmanns Vier” and shows all his acting skills in the embodiment of a single father after his wife’s tragic car accident.

In the Amazon original series “Celebrity Hunted”, Tom goes undercover with Axel Stein and is chased by professional investigators through Germany.

In his private life, the 44-year-old, alongside his wife Chryssanthi Kavazi (Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten), spills the beans every Sunday in their own podcast “Brez’n mit Tzaziki”.

And musically? This year there was the joint single “Diese Welt braucht Liebe” – a feature for Nico Suave & Teesy, before they go on tour in Germany again in 2022.

VENUS is a UK based girl group with five members. CHARLE, TYRECE, ELLIE, SOPHIE AND DIZA have been cast out of more than 1400 UK female artists.
They have five different individual characters (personalities, hair colours, styling, voices).
The girls are quirky, cheeky, „girls next door“ types with very high energy. All girls live in London.
Multiplatinum Songwriter Kiddo (European Radio #1 „All we got“ Robin Schulz) and Latin Grammy Winner Björn Djupström wrote the first singles, which multi gold and platinum producer Krutsch produced.

The singer and songwriter Justin Jesso has made a name for himself writing for superstars like Kygo, Ricky Martin, Armin van Buuren, Steve Aoki, and even the Backstreet Boys! But there comes a time in many a songwriter’s life, where he or she begins feeling like some songs, they simply can’t give away for others to sing. (“Song babies”, as the LA resident lovingly refers to those pieces.) And why should you, when you’ve not only been blessed with a talent to write, but also an amazingly melodic singing voice, an outstanding stage presence, and a personality that’s winning over the hearts of fans and followers on social media?

“Clarity”, which Justin Jesso is set to release via Sony Music Germany on January 14, 2022, is one of these song babies. The track was originally about being in a relationship and not really knowing what’s going on or where you stand, because your partner isn’t being transparent – but it has since become so much more than that: “It’s also about me finding myself,” Justin explains. “I wrote it in the middle of a pandemic. I was really stressed out, and living with my parents, and the world was shut down. I just really wanted to not consciously think about what I was writing, but rather let it all pour out of me naturally, and this is what came out. So it’s also about me finding clarity in my musical journey, and trying to figure out where I’m heading … It’s really the music that I want to be doing and the music that speaks to my soul, so it’s deeply personal to me in my journey as an artist”.

Not only as a writer, but now a vocal artist, the universe has clearly sided with Justin Jesso: His hit single, “Stargazing” with legendary artist Kygo, has garnered him hundreds of millions of streams, views, gold and platinum certifications in countries all across the world, and even a Grammy nomination! “Clarity” is his first single in a series of soon to be released tracks by Justin Jesso, and will be available via Sony Music Germany January 14, 2022.

On 29 October 2021, Nico Suave and Teesy released “Diese Welt braucht Liebe” – an alternative version of their joint single “Liebe” – for which the two have formed “Team Liebe” with friends and colleagues. In addition to Nico Suave and Teesy, the 15-member collective consists of Tim Bendzko, Stefanie Heinzmann, Jeanette Biedermann, Seven, Yvonne Catterfeld, Fetsum, Noah Levi, Bengio, Tom Beck, NKSN, Elisa Valerie, Nima & Ernest Clinton. 15 singers who gave the message of the song an even stronger voice: The world needs more love.

The song “Liebe”, originally released by Nico Suave & Teesy in August this year, is the current single release from Nico’s album “Gute Neuigkeiten”, which will be released on 21.01.2022. “This world needs love” is an encouraging anthem to us all: “Where have all the heroes gone?”, Nico & Teesy shout out into the world with the support of “Team Love”, denouncing the supposed lack of altruism in this world. Nico himself says about the song: “There is so much negativity in this world and people have forgotten to fight for positive changes together instead of alone. It starts with little things like mutual mindfulness and consideration in everyday life and can be transferred to bigger issues like the environment, etc.” In this sense, it is time for all of us to take a step back, put our egos aside and work together – because this world is in desperate need of more love!