Sandra Ann Lauer (born 18 May 1962), later Sandra Cretu, commonly known mononymously as Sandra, is a German pop singer who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced by her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu, most notably "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" (1985), "In the Heat of the Night" (1985), "Everlasting Love" (1987), "Secret Land" (1988), "Hiroshima" (1990), and "Don't Be Aggressive" (1992). Her albums Into a Secret Land (1988) and Close to Seven (1992) have won Sandra high critical acclaim.

Prior to embarking on a solo career, Sandra was the lead singer of the all-female disco trio Arabesque, which had a massive following in Japan and the Soviet Union. Also, between 1990 and 2001, she provided vocals on album releases of the very successful musical project Enigma, which had top 10 hits in North America and the United Kingdom. A cult star with a devoted fan base, Sandra remains one of the most popular singers of the 1980s in Continental Europe. During the height of her popularity, she even managed to outsell Madonna in a number of countries around the world. With sales in excess of 33 million records worldwide, Sandra has established her position as the most successful German female vocalist.

Sandra Ann Lauer was born on 18 May 1962 in the German town of Saarbrücken, close to the French border. Her French-born father, Robert Lauer (1937-2021), owned a wine store in Saarbrücken, and German-born mother, Karin (née Eltern) (1939–2020), worked in a shoe store. Sandra had an older brother, Gaston, a paraplegic who died in 1995. She showed an early interest in music and dancing, taking classical ballet at the age of five and guitar lessons when she was 10. In 1975, at the age of 13, Sandra went with her mother to see Young Star Festival, a Saarbrücken talent competition. She was only a member of the audience, but when the participants had finished performing and the jury was discussing the results, Sandra walked onto the stage and persuaded the DJ to put on the German version of an Olivia Newton-John song. The impromptu performance gained considerable recognition and led to the release of her first single, a song about a pet dog, "Andy mein Freund". The single, however, performed poorly.

In 1979, now 17, Sandra joined Arabesque, a disco group consisting of Michaela Rose and Jasmine Vetter, and would become the band's lead singer. At that time, Sandra met keyboardist Michael Cretu. They found that they shared the same birthday, albeit five years apart, and became good friends. Arabesque became successful with their cheerful music and flamboyant costumes, winning a massive following in Japan and scoring a top 10 hit in Germany in 1981 with "Marigot Bay". After nine albums, emerging differences in musical interests of group members and decreasing popularity of disco music signalled the group's break-up. Sandra and Michael Cretu, by then romantically involved, moved to Munich where Michael created his own studio, Data-Alpha, named after a song from his solo album Legionäre. Their first single together was 1984's "Japan ist weit", a German cover of the Alphaville song "Big in Japan". However, the song failed to chart with only 125 copies sold. ...

Source: Article "Sandra (singer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Sandra Ann Lauer, simplement dite Sandra, née le 18 mai 1962 à Sarrebruck, dans la Sarre, est une chanteuse pop franco-allemande.

Elle a également été connue sous les noms de Sandra Cretu et Sandra Menges.

Membre du groupe disco Arabesque de 1978 à 1984, elle entame ensuite une carrière solo aux côtés de Michael Cretu, musicien allemand d'origine roumaine. Celui-ci lui compose un morceau new wave, (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena, qui fait référence à Marlène Dietrich, dont c'est le prénom, et qui deviendra un succès international en 1985 lui assurant une grande notoriété.

Sandra fait partie des artistes culte des années 1980. Au cours de sa carrière, elle a vendu plus de trente millions de disques dans le monde et son plus grand succès demeure Maria Magdalena, écoulé à plus de cinq millions d'exemplaires (dont 404 000 en France). D'autres singles ont également eu un grand succès international: In the Heat of the Night, Innocent Love, Hi! Hi! Hi!, Everlasting Love, Heaven Can Wait, Secret Land, We'll Be Together, Around My Heart et Hiroshima.

Dans les années 1990, elle participe à la formation musicale Enigma créée par son mari de l'époque Michael Cretu, qui obtiendra un succès international. On entend sa voix sur plusieurs singles d'Enigma, notamment Sadeness, Mea Culpa ou Return to Innocence, où on peut l'entendre chanter quelques phrases, parfois en français.

Sandra continue de sortir régulièrement des disques depuis les années 1980, malgré une pause volontaire de 1995 à 2002 pour des raisons familiales. Si la chanteuse est loin des scores de ventes qu'elle faisait dans les années 1980, elle conserve toutefois un public fidèle et on estime ses ventes pour chaque album entre 40 000 et 60 000 copies.

Sandra Ann Lauer naît le 18 mai 1962 à Sarrebruck dans la Sarre. Elle a la nationalité allemande. Son père, Robert Lauer, est français: elle possède donc la double-nationalité.

En 1974, elle commence sa carrière grâce à un radio-crochet dans sa ville natale. Andy mein Freund est son premier titre, en hommage à son chien Andy. En 1978, elle remplace l'une des trois chanteuses du groupe Arabesque, qui connaît alors déjà un important succès, notamment au Japon. Arabesque aura produit une dizaine d'albums.

C'est lors d'une tournée au Japon qu'elle fait la rencontre du claviériste du groupe, Michael Cretu.

En 1984, le groupe se sépare et elle commence alors une carrière solo qui se solde par un échec: la reprise en allemand de Big in Japan d'Alphaville, intitulée Japan ist weit (clin d'œil à son succès nippon).

Mais, à l'occasion de Noël 1984, Michael Cretu lui compose la chanson (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena, sortie en mars 1985, qui devient son plus grand succès international. ...

Source: Article "Sandra (chanteuse)" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.