Dieter Bohlen

Dieter Bohlen
Background information
Birth name	Dieter Bohlen
Also known as	Eric Styx, Countdown G.T.O, Harvey Howard, Steve Benson[1] Ryan Simmons[2]
Born	(1954-02-07) 7 February 1954
Origin	Berne, Lower Saxony, Germany
Genres	Pop Eurodance Europop Euro disco
Occupations	Songwriter Musician Record producer Singer
Years active	1978–2010 (singer) 1978–present (songwriter and producer)
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, and TV personality. 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 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".^[3] In 1988 she recorded a song "Ronnie - Talk To Russia!" as Sheree,[2] written by German songwriter and former member of Modern Talking, Dieter Bohlen.

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.

In the 1990s, Bohlen became producer for Bonnie Tyler under Hansa Records. They released three albums; Bitterblue, Angel Heart and Silhouette in Red. Tyler had great success with her single "Bitterblue", which was written and produced by Bohlen.

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.

In 2011, he founded the clothing label "Needs Clothing" along with Felix Werner.

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.

Personal life

Dieter was the son of Edith and Hans Bohlen. His maternal grandmother originally from Königsberg.^[4] 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 and Marielin.
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). Later, Bohlen lived with the 1979 born model Stefanie Küster until 2006. They have one son, Maurice-Cassian, born mid-2005.

He met his current girlfriend Carina Walz in Majorca, Spain, where one of the casting events for Deutschland sucht den Superstar (the German version of Pop Idol) was held. They have a daughter, Amelie (born 2011) and a son, Maximilian (born 2013).

Bohlen lives in the village of Tötensen near Hamburg.

Discography

No. 1 Hits in Germany

Artists with Bohlen as producer (selection)

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 according 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

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.

References

External links

• laut.de:Dieter Bohlen
• Dieter Bohlen discography at Discogs