Anne Haigis (born 9 December 1955) is a German musician, singer and songwriter. Through the 1980s, she gained commercial success with rock songs, blues and ballads sung in German with her native Swabian accent. In the 1990s she incorporated English language material again, and recorded with

Tony Carey Anthony Lawrence Carey (born October 16, 1953, Watsonville, California) is an American-born, European-based musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. One of his earliest musical experiences was as a keyboardist for Rainbow. After his ...

and

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

. Her intense and passionate singing style has been praised as belonging to one of Germany's best contemporary voices, a "down to earth, charismatic, warm-hearted entertainer".

Early life

Anne Haigis was born in Rottweil, Southern Germany, situated between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. Her father was an electromechanic and her mother was a master taylor. She learned to play the flute and joined a chamber orchestra. At the age of fourteen, she left the orchestra and taught herself basic guitar chords to accompany herself singing the "smalltown blues". In a Stuttgart music club, she met the rock band Foggy Day, who convinced Haigis to make singing a professional career. In 1971, she left school and her home in Rottweil for Stuttgart at age 16.Biography
Anne Haigis, n.d. www.anne-haigis.de

Career

In 1974, aged 19, she changed to Interstate Roadshow, a band which mostly toured US soldiers' clubs. During the holiday seasons she sang with French musicians in restaurants, cafés and bars of St. Tropez. That year, she first performed with a jazz band."Haigis, Anne"
Munzinger Online/Pop – Pop-Archiv International, n.d.. Retrieved 22 December 2017) In 1981, Haigis released the acclaimed debut album ''For here where the life is'', produced by her discoverer and later partner

Wolfgang Dauner Wolfgang Dauner (; 30 December 1935 – 10 January 2020) was a German jazz pianist who co-founded the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. He worked with Hans Koller, Albert Mangelsdorff, Volker Kriegel and Ack van Rooyen and composed for radio, tel ...

. She went on her first large tour and also accompanied the United Rock & Jazz Ensemble as a

support act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

. In 1982, her second similarly successful album ''Fingernails'' was released. Aside from touring she was a guest singer with the Radio Jazz Group of Südfunk Stuttgart, was invited to NDR and

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

radio productions as a soloist; she was a member of the Band Wolfhound by Wolfgang Schmidt, and can be heard on "Hallelujah" and "Neverending Story". After separating from Wolfgang Dauner she changed from singing English jazz to German language music. Her first German language album was ''Anne Haigis'' (1984), produced by Edo Zanki with

EMI Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925 the British Gramophone Company ...

. The title "Freundin" climbed the charts and became her first nationwide hit. She was a frequent guest on German TV shows with

Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, nickname Kuli (27 April 1921 in Bremen14 August 1998 in Seeham) was a German actor and TV host, remembered mainly as host of ''Einer wird gewinnen'', a quiz show that ran from 1964 to 1987. In 1967, he hosted Miss G ...

, Rudi Carell,

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and others. In 1985, she released ''Lass mich fallen wie Schnee''; in 1987 her most successful album to date, ''Geheime Zeichen'' produced by

; and in 1989 ''Indigo'', produced by Wolf Maahn and Mandy van Baaren, for which she received the Grammy of German pop music. She has called ''Indigo'' her personal favorite album. In 1990, Haigis took a new direction by not singing exclusively in German any longer, and recorded ''No man's land'' with Tony Carey and

. With this she separated from EMI Records. She was supported by advisor-friend

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Early life Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German ( Transylvanian Saxon), ...

, who helped her get a contract with BMG-Ariola. In 1992, she traveled to Los Angeles and Nashville to produce the album ''Cry Wolf'', on which she collaborated with Kevin McCormick of the Melissa Etheridge Band,

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and

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. During this time she met

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

, who wrote the songs "Dancing in the Fire" and "Out of My Mind" for her. With the release of ''Cry Wolf'', Haigis went on a two-month tour through Europe with

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

. Afterwards she trimmed her band from rock to acoustic players and sang unplugged. In 1997, she played with Franz Benton, supported by Geiger Mani Neumann (Trio Farfarello) amongst others, the live album ''Dancing in the Fire'' at Club Bel Air in Cologne. Accompanied by Klaus Spangenberg, Jörg Hamers and Erich Strebel, she gave 200 concerts, including a short tour in Brasil. Back in Germany she developed her own style collaborating with "RE" and interpreted songs by

Airto Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the B ...

, Flora Purim,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

and

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in her way. In 1999, she fulfilled her dream of recording an album by herself at an unusual location, far from everyday life and big city atmosphere; she rented a beach house on the Dutch North Sea coast installing a temporary studio for the production. She was a guest singer on the "Tribute to Johnny Cash" tour, and since 2003 she has been a docent teacher in gospel workshops. In 2005, she produced the live album ''8:00 pm'' together with her guitarist Jens Filser. In 2007, she produced the album ''Good day for the Blues'' after fans asked her to get back to the blues. In 2011, she toured Germany with her album ''wanderlust'', widely praised in the press. she continues to be well received when performing,Anne Haigis: Gänsehaut dank Whiskey-Stimme
14 April 2016, kultur-kritik.net, Thomas Kölsch on tour with the release of her 15th album, 15Companions''.Ulrich von Mengde

Main Spitze, 28 March 2017

Personal life

Haigis said in a 2015 interview that she is "married to music", that it is her "highest priority", and that she does not really have time for a social life. She has two dogs.Katrin Fuhrman
Anne Haigis am Freitag im Talbahnhof
Aachener Zeitung, 22 January 2015 (Germany) "Für ein privates, soziales Leben habe ich eigentlich keine Zeit. Ich bin mit der Musik verheiratet. Ich gehe in der Musik total auf. Sie hat oberste Priorität für mich."

Awards

* 1987: Deutsche Phonoakademie in Jazz * 1989: Löwen by

Radio Luxemburg RTL Radio is a German commercial radio station based in Berlin and the part of the RTL Group. It originated as the German language service of Radio Luxembourg, which began broadcasting after World War II from Luxembourg. It broadcasts adult c ...

Discography

* ''Fore here where the life is'' (1981) * ''Fingernails'' (1982) * ''Truth'' (with Wolfgang Schmid, 1982) * ''Anne Haigis'' (1984) * ''Lass mich fallen wie Schnee'' (1985) * ''Geheime Zeichen'' (1987) * ''Indigo'' (1989) * ''Cry wolf'' (1992) * ''Dancing in the fire'' (1997) * '' i:' (2000) * ''...in deutsch'' (Best of-Album) (2001) * ''Homestory'' (2003) * ''Das Beste in deutsch 2'' (2004) * ''8:00 pm – im duo live'' (2005) * ''Good day for the Blues'' (2007) * ''Wanderlust'' (2011) * ''15 Companions'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haigis, Anne 1955 births Living people German women singers English-language singers from Germany Feminist musicians German women pop singers German rock singers German jazz singers People from Rottweil