Claudia Jung (born Ute Krummenast April 12, 1964 in Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia), is a German Schlager singer and politician.
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| “ | Ich kann nur in der Sprache singen, in der ich auch träume..I can sing only in the language in which I also dream... | ” |
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—Claudia Jung[1] |
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From 1974 till 1980 Claudia Jung attended the school Liebfrauenschule in Ratingen. As a child she took guitar lessons and during her schooltime she sang in the Amt-Angerland-Chor. Before her career in show business she worked as a photo lab technician, a dental assistant and a tourist guide in Italy. Every now and then she performed as a non-professional singer.
In 1984 she met the music producer Adam Schairer with whom she subsequently made experimental recordings. She made her first single releases in collaboration with Schairer and the composer and producer Jean Frankfurter as well as the lyricist Erich Offierowski. The debut album Halt' mich fest ("Hold me tight") was released in 1988. Since 1999 her albums have been produced by Hans Singer with André Franke as co-producer.
During her career, Claudia Jung has achieved multiple gold and platinum records. She has also been awarded various prizes such as the Echo-Preis, Goldene Stimmgabel and the Fred-Jay-Textdichterpreis. Jung has had duets with many international stars including Richard Clayderman (e.g. "Je t'aime mon amour"), Rosanna Perinic ("Domani l'amore vincerà"), Nino de Angelo ("Hand in Hand") and Cliff Richard ("Mistletoe and Wine"). She sings mainly in her native language, German, but has also interpreted songs in English, French and Italian.
In 2004, she recorded a duet "Heut' fliegt ein Engel durch die Nacht" with her daughter Anna.
Since November 2007 Claudia Jung has been the protector of a childcare project for traumatized children who have lost faith in themselves, other people and the surrounding world.
On March 2, 2008 Claudia Jung - officially Ute Singer - was elected as representative of the group Freie Wähler in the county council of Pfaffenhofen. She also works as a councilwoman of the Christliche Wählergemeinschaft in the community of Gerolsbach. In the state election on September 28, 2008 Claudia Jung was elected as representative of the Freie Wähler in the Landtag of Bavaria.[2]
Claudia Jung's first husband was her former manager Jürgen Evers, whom she married in Düsseldorf on 1 September 1993. The marriage ended the following year and they were divorced. At the same time Jung met current husband Hans Singer, whom she married in 1997. The couple has a daughter, Anna Charlotte born August 4, 1997. Hans Singer has a son, David, a few years older. The family has lived since 1998 in a farm in Gerolsbach, district of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm (Upper Bavaria). They have many animals living on the farm (about fifty between horses, goats, dogs and cats, etc.) Claudia Jung is an animal-friend, respecting and loving nature, and among her passions is vegetarianism.
In early 1994 Claudia Jung, following a bad fall from her horse (equestrianism is her favorite sport), suffered a double fracture of the skull base. Some months later she also suffered a paralysis of the vocal cords, which forced her into a period of rest and to halt her touring. Her comeback in September of that year, with the song "Je t'aime mon amour" in tandem with the pianist Richard Clayderman, however, was phenomenal. This romantic ballad (in German and French version) is one of her greatest hits. In 2005 Claudia Jung again suffered a paralysis of the vocal cords, which once again forced her for a few months to halt some of her touring.