| AnnaGrace | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Belgium |
| Genres | Eurodance, electronica, vocal trance |
| Years active | 2000–2008 (as Ian Van Dahl) 2008–present (as AnnaGrace) |
| Labels | Sinuz |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Annemie Coenen Peter Luts |
|
| Past members | |
| Martine Theeuwen (Marsha) Cindy Mertens David Vervoort Christophe Chantzis Erik Vanspauwen |
|
AnnaGrace (formerly known as Ian Van Dahl) is an electronic dance music group from Belgium. They have seen success on dance and pop charts around the world. Among their hit songs are "Castles in the Sky," "Will I?," and "Inspiration." Their third album, and debut under the AnnaGrace alias, was released on June 17, 2010.
Contents |
Ian Van Dahl began in 2000 as Christophe Chantzis, Erik Vanspauwen and Martine Theeuwen, who was referred to as Marsha. Marsha was later replaced by vocalist Annemie Coenen. Later, Peter Luts and David Vervoort (more famously known as Dave McCullen) joined the group. In 2008, the group changed its name to AnnaGrace retaining only Annemie Coenen and Peter Luts as members.
In 2001 the debut single "Castles in the Sky" was released by Ian Van Dahl. The vocals were originally recorded by Marsha, however, the producers felt that Marsha wouldn't make a good front woman for the act and therefore cast Cindy Mertens for the role. This decision proved to be quite controversial at the time as Cindy mimed to Marsha's vocals both in the video and during live performances. Cindy was later replaced, however, by Annemie Coenen due to her poor performance at live shows. Annemie continued to mime to Marsha's vocals before a re-recorded version appeared on the debut album, Ace. There are two different videos for the track and both of which feature Cindy Mertens. A video with Annemie Coenen was never made. The first is the regular radio edit which shows a selection of dancers in an underground sewer. The second video uses the Peter Luts radio edit and features clips of an instrument being played amongst clips of the original video. The song achieved great success through-out Europe, charting at #3 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The second single "Will I?" was the first to officially feature Annemie Coenen as the vocalist and front woman. The song, again, was an international success, peaking at #5 on the UK chart.[1]
Following the release of the first two singles, Ian Van Dahl released their debut album Ace to global success. The album charted at #7 in the UK Albums Chart,[1] achieving gold status after only four weeks.
The third single to be taken from Ace was "Reason" which charted at #8 in the UK.[1] "Secret Love" was chosen as the third single in a number of European countries instead. The fourth single release, "Try", reached #15 in the UK chart.[1]
Then followed the debut single from the new album Lost And Found, called "I Can't Let You Go". This single only charted at #20 in the UK.[1] It was then followed by the second single "Believe" which charted at #27 in the UK,[1] resulting in the eventual cancellation of the UK release of the second album, and a hiatus on the UK chart ensued for a number of years. NuLife Recordings ceased to exist a number of months later.
Lost & Found also featured "Where Are You Now?" and "Inspiration", the two other single releases, which became Billboard Hot Dance Airplay, Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Singles Sales hits in the United States. "Inspirarion" was also released in the UK a number of years after its recording, by a small dance record label, Tubulence Records.
The last singles released under the Ian Van Dahl alias were "Movin' On", which was issued in December 2005, and "Just a Girl", which was released in July 2006. Both songs charted in Belgium and the US. Neither were released in the UK. Peter Luts decided to produce new tracks with Annemie under a new name, and AnnaGrace was born. In September 2008, A&S Productions released three further Ian Van Dahl tracks on i-tunes, "Time 2 Go" (previously unreleased radio edit), "Run" (previously unreleased radio edit) and "Driving In My Car" (a track from the unreleased third Ian Van Dahl album).
In June 2008, the debut AnnaGrace single, "You Make Me Feel", was released in Belgium, shortly followed by a release in the United States, where it reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart the following October. The track was remixed for the UK and given a digital only release through the Hard2Beat label in April 2009 but failed to make any impact on the charts.
The second AnnaGrace single, "Let the Feelings Go", was released in May 2009 An exclusive preview video filmed in Los Angeles for the new track was made available on April 16. The song achieved success in the Netherlands and Belgium. The track also became their second consecutive number one single on the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart the following July, making them the first duo on this chart to reach number one with back to back singles. "Love Keeps Calling", the third AnnaGrace single, is now available to purchase as a digital download and physical CD. The song itself achieved moderate success in Belgium and the Netherlands. Her debut album is complete, and AnnaGrace has announced its release for June after the release of the next single. The next single, titled "Celebration", was released in Belgium on May 17, 2010. In June 2010, the debut AnnaGrace album "Ready to Dare" was released and entered in Belgium charts at number 39, climbing to a peak of 15.[2]
"Don't Let Go" was the fifth and final single to be released from 'Ready to Dare', achieving moderate success in Belgium, reaching no.26 in the charts. The video was directed by Peter Van Eyndt and was shot in New York. No announcement has been made yet regarding a new single or album but both are expected during 2012.
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL | UK[1] | DEN | FIN | US Dance |
||
| 2002 | Ace | 41 | 7 | 40 | 10 | 16 |
| 2004 | Lost & Found | 29 | – | – | – | 13 |
| 2010 | Ready to Dare | 15 | – | – | – | - |
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Vl) |
BEL (Wa) |
BDC | UK[1] | IRE | DEN | GER | NED | POL | FIN | EU | US | US Dance | |||
| 2001 | "Castles in the Sky" | 35 | – | 4 | 3 | 13 | 18 | 43 | 43 | – | – | 22 | 91 | – | Ace |
| 2001 | "Will I?" | 14 | – | 4 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 48 | 51 | – | 17 | 14 | – | 18 | |
| 2002 | "Reason" | 31 | – | 5 | 8 | 18 | 17 | 51 | 75 | – | – | 26 | – | – | |
| 2002 | "Try" | 36 | – | 10 | 15 | – | 18 | – | – | – | 20 | 32 | – | – | |
| 2003 | "Secret Love" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 2003 | "I Can't Let You Go" | 22 | – | 12 | 20 | 35 | – | 72 | – | – | – | 61 | – | – | Lost and Found |
| 2004 | "Where Are You Now?" | 23 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | – | – | |
| 2004 | "Believe" | – | – | – | 27 | 40 | – | – | – | – | – | 75 | – | – | |
| 2004 | "Inspiration" | 23 | – | 1 | 83 | – | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | |
| 2005 | "Movin' On" | 24 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 48 | – | 7 | – | – | – | — |
| 2006 | "Just a Girl" | 35 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | – | – | 6 | |
| 2008 | "You Make Me Feel" | 35 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | Ready To Dare |
| 2009 | "Let the Feelings Go" | 5 | 12 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| 2009 | "Love Keeps Calling" | 23 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 26 | – | – | – | 1 | |
| 2010 | "Celebration" | 21 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | 85 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 2010 | "Don't Let Go" | 26 | – | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |