Sarah Connor (musician)
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| Sarah Connor | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Sarah Leve | |
| Born | June 13, 1980 | |
| Origin | Delmenhorst, Lower Saxony, Germany | |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Soul, R&B | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter | |
| Years active | 2001-present | |
| Label(s) | X-Cell Records / SonyBMG | |
| Website | Official site | |
Born Sarah Leve, better known as Sarah Connor (born June 13, 1980) is a German pop music singer who has enjoyed a great deal of success in the European pop charts since the early 2000s. Sarah is married to former boy band star Marc Terenzi and has a son named Tyler and daughter named Summer.
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[edit] Early years
Sarah Connor was born in Delmenhorst, Lower Saxony near Bremen, Germany to Soraya and Michael Leve. Her father is of American descent and her mother is of Irish and German descent. She has 4 sisters: Sophia Luisa, Valentina, Marisa and Anna Maria; and one brother Robin.
Sarah grew up listening to soul music under the influence of her paternal grandfather who was born in New Orleans. She also sang gospel music in a church choir at an early age and started appearing in school musicals. In her teen years Connor tried out and was accepted to a performing arts school. Though all students were required to choose an instrument and Sarah was the only one allowed to study voice. Her first big break came at the age of 17 when she was picked from her school to sing at a Michael Jackson concert in Germany. Inspired, she quit school in 12th grade and started sending off demo tapes to record labels and producers under the name Sarah Grey. In 2001 she was finally signed to Sony Music's sub-label X-Cell Records under her new pseudonym Sarah Connor.
[edit] Recording career
[edit] 2001—2003: Career beginnings and developement
Rapper TQ produced Sarah's first single "Let's Get Back To Bed - Boy" which went to the top 5 in Germany and Austria, top 10 in Switzerland and top 20 in the UK in spring/summer 2001, followed up by the Blackstreet sampling single "French Kissing". The third track, "From Sarah With Love", even overtopped the success of the previous singles and went straight to the charts' top in Germany, Switzerland and several other European countries, eventually selling over 750,000 copies. Afterwards Sarah released her debut album, Green Eyed Soul, which sold 450,000 records domestically and peaked at #2 in Germany, also reaching the top 10 in Finland, Greece, Poland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. In the meantime Connor won a Comet and an ECHO for "Female National Rock/Pop Artist".
Connor's sophomore album Unbelievable was released in 2002 in Europe. Wyclef Jean wrote, produced and rapped on the CD's first single, "One Nite Stand (Of Wolves And Sheep)", which once again entered the top 5. Unbelievable simultaneously became another smash, achieving gold status in Germany within 48 hours. With the Diane Warren written ballad "Skin On Skin", "He's Unbelievable" and "Bounce" the album spawned further three singles.
In spite of being heavily pregnant with her first child then, Sarah decided to release her third album called Key To My Soul in November 2003. However, the album's first single, "Music Is The Key", featuring New York a capella singers Naturally 7 managed to become her second #1 in Germany. "Just One Last Dance", the next and final single (due to the birth of her son Tyler around this time), was a re-recorded edition of the album's original version, including new vocals by Marc Terenzi's band "Natural". The duet once again reached #1 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and the top 20 on a composite World Top 40.
In fall of 2003 some American DJs got a hold of Sarah's previous hit "Bounce". Soon "Bounce" was getting heavy radio airplay and Sony Records decided to release a CD of her songs in the USA. Sarah was about six months pregnant when "Bounce" started hitting the singles charts (it peaked in the top 40) so she wasn't able to promote. A compilation of her previous three album's singles, titled Sarah Connor, was released in the Winter of 2004, a few weeks before her son Tyler was born. The album debuted at #112 on the album charts and never climbed again due to lack of promotion.
[edit] 2004—present: New image and popularity
In fall 2004 Sarah returned with "Living To Love You", which peaked at #1 in Germany and Switzerland. In March 2005 she contributed the soundtrack to the computer-animated movie Robots with her single "From Zero To Hero", her fifth #1 single in Germany and the fourth #1 in a row.
In the Summer of 2005 Sarah and her husband Marc starred in their own "reality show" Sarah and Marc in Love. The series (no matter how cheesy some fans felt it was) was a smash hit and helped relaunch Sarah's diva status and made Marc Terenzi (now a solo artist) a known name. The series was a one off type "documentary" that led up to Sarah and Marc's rewedding in Spain at the end of July. Marc had recorded a song for Sarah called "Love to be Loved by You", which became an instant hit.
In December 2005 as she toured to support her album Naughty but Nice Sarah released a Christmas album called ' Christmas in my heart'. The same titled single went to #4 in the charts, while the album reached the top 10 of the German single chart. Christmas in my heart wasn't a typical Christmas album: Sarah put a jazzy spin on old favorites and remade German language Christmas tunes.
It was announced during her tour in December of 2005 that Sarah was again pregnant and so for the time being her music was put on hold. She gave birth in June 2006 to a girl named Summer Antonia Soraya. The baby was named after Marc's mother Antonia and Sarah's mother Soraya. It was revealed a short time later that Summer had a hole in her heart (a Shunt). She was operated on in August and is now fine.
On November 24th Sarah released a new Christmas single titled "The Best side of life". The song debuted at #6 on the German charts. "The Best side of life" also has the honor of being part of Coca Cola's Christmas Promotional campagin in Germany (this isnt the first time she's worked with Coca Cola' Diet Coke was a sponsor for Sarah and Marc in Love]].
On the same date Sarah also reissued her Christmas album "Christmas in my heart" this time featuring the new single. The reissue debuted at #49 on the German charts. Her final 2006 release was a new DVD of her Christmas music entitled the same as the album.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER Albums | AT Albums | CH Albums | UK Albums | US Album | POL Albums | ||||
| 2001 | Green Eyed Soul | #2 | #4 | #3 | - | - | #2 | ||
| 2002 | Unbelievable | #10 | #21 | #19 | - | - | #21 | ||
| 2003 | Key To My Soul | #8 | #11 | #12 | - | - | #18 | ||
| 2003 | Sarah Connor | - | - | - | - | #106 | - | ||
| 2005 | Naughty But Nice | #1 | #3 | #3 | - | - | #8 | ||
| 2005 | Christmas in my Heart | #6 | #6 | #6 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | Christmas in my Heart (reissued with "The Best side of life") | #49 | #46 | #74 | - | - | - | ||
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER Singles | AT Singles | CH Singles | UK Singles | US Hot 100 | POL Singles | |||
| 2001 | "Let's Get Back To Bed - Boy" | #2 | #5 | #9 | #16 | - | #1 | Green Eyed Soul |
| 2001 | "French Kissing" | #26 | #20 | #16 | - | - | #33 | Green Eyed Soul |
| 2001 | "From Sarah With Love" | #1 | #2 | #1 | - | - | #1 | Green Eyed Soul |
| 2002 | "One Nite Stand" (featuring Wyclef Jean) | #5 | #5 | #16 | - | - | #5 | Unbelievable |
| 2002 | "Skin On Skin" | #5 | #8 | #16 | - | - | #2 | Unbelievable |
| 2003 | "He's Unbelievable" | #16 | #12 | #50 | - | - | #21 | Unbelievable |
| 2003 | "Bounce" | #12 | #20 | #14 | #14 | #52 | #14 | Unbelievable / Sarah Connor |
| 2003 | "Music Is The Key" (featuring Naturally 7) | #1 | #6 | #2 | - | - | #2 | Key To My Soul |
| 2004 | "Just One Last Dance" (featuring Natural) | #1 | #5 | #8 | - | - | #1 | Key To My Soul |
| 2004 | "Living To Love You" | #1 | #2 | #1 | - | - | #1 | Naughty But Nice |
| 2005 | "From Zero To Hero" | #1 | #2 | #5 | - | - | #2 | Naughty But Nice |
| 2005 | "Christmas in my heart" | #4 | #6 | #4 | - | - | - | Christmas in my heart |
| 2006 | "The Best Side of Life" | #6 | #12 | #15 | - | - | - | "Christmas in my heart Reissued" |
[edit] Awards
- 2001
- Comet - "Best National Newcomer"
- Top Of The Pops Award - "Best German Newcomer"
- 2002
- ECHO - "Best National Female Rock/Pop"
- Goldene Europa - "Most Successful German Female Singer"
- BRAVO Otto - "Supersinger National" Silver Otto
- Radio Regenbogen Award - "Best Hit 2001" (From Sarah With Love)
- Maxim - "Woman Of The Year - Popstar"
- 2003
- Radio Hamburg Award - "Best Female National Pop Act"
- 2004
- World Music Award - "Best Selling German Artist"
- Neo Award - "Most Successful Download Album" (Key To My Soul)
- 2005
- Diva Awards - "Music Artist Of The Year"
- Goldenen Kamera - "Pop National"
- BRAVO Otto - "Supersinger Female" (Golden Otto)
- Comet - "Best Female Artist"
- Eins Live Krone - "Best Female Artist"
- 2006
- BRAVO Otto - "Supersinger Female" (Golden Otto)
[edit] Trivia
- Sarah Connor had a baby boy called Tyler Marc with Natural's former singer Marc Terenzi on February 2, 2004. They had a baby girl named Summer Antonia Soraya on June 23rd, 2006.
- In June 2005, Connor got into controversy, when she performed the national anthem at the opening ceremony of the new stadium in Munich, the Allianz Arena, singing "Brüh im Lichte dieses Glückes" ("Scald in the light of this luck") instead of "Blüh im Glanze dieses Glückes" ("Blossom in the glamor of this luck").
- Sarah is a supporter of PETA and is a vegetarian. She says she became a vegetarian because her idol Michael Jackson is also one.
- In her career Sarah has released 3 DVD's: 'Sarah and Marc in love' (her reality show), "A night to remember: Pop meets Classic" (a performance of her songs with classical arrangements), and "Christmas in my heart" (performances of her Xmas songs.)
- In addition to her music Sarah has also made and endorsed quite a few products. In Germany outside of her promotional items (from t shirts to flip flops), she has her own line of jeans, perfume, and even her own cakes!
