Anna Wappel (born 18 December 1985), known professionally as Anna F., is an Austrian singer-songwriter and actress. She is the frontwoman for the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Friedberg.

Life and career

1996–2008: Early life

Wappel was born in the Austrian town of Friedberg. She began singing in childhood, and cites the first records of her parents including

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

and

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

. She studied English and Italian philosophy and literature in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and worked for

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * AT ...

on the weekends.

2009–2011: Career beginnings, ''For Real''

In the summer of 2009, Anna was an opening act for

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

's European tour. She won the "Pop" category at the Amadeus Austrian Music Awards 2009. She published her debut album, ''For Real'', on 5 February 2010. The album reached third place on the Austrian music charts and was awarded a golden certification. Wappel toured throughout Austria, including the Donauinselfest.

2012–present: Acting debut, ''King in the Mirror'', and ''DNA''

In 2012, Wappel made her acting debut in Dito Tsintsadze's feature film, ''Invasion'' which premiered on 30 June 2012 at the

Filmfest München The Munich International Film Festival (german: Filmfest München) is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/earl ...

. Wappel moved to Prenzlauer Berg in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 2012. She signed to

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

(

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

) in 2013. In August 2013, Anna released ''DNA'' as her first song from the upcoming album ''King in the Mirror''. The music video was released on 3 August 2013. She performed on

Jan Böhmermann Jan Böhmermann () (born 23 February 1981) is a German satirist, journalist, and podcast and television host. He also worked as a writer, producer, radio host, and is best known for his activism through publicity stunts. Early life and educati ...

's television show ''Lateline''. ''King in the Mirror'' was released in February 2014. Wappel was the opening act for

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After l ...

's tour in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. In preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, Anna was a part of the

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

team which searched for potential candidates to represent Austria, acting as a coach to the musicians. In 2017, Anna began recording a new album with producer

Daniel Brandt Daniel Brandt is a German composer, drummer, and filmmaker from Wiesbaden based in London and Berlin. He is a member of the ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick and also records as a solo artist for the British record label Erased Tapes. Biography Bran ...

, whom she was also dating at the time.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Film

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:F., Anna 1985 births 21st-century Austrian actresses 21st-century Austrian women singers Austrian singer-songwriters Austrian women singer-songwriters Austrian television actresses Living people People from Hartberg District