Herbert Grönemeyer

Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 film ''Das Boot'', but later focused on his musical career. His fifth album '' 4630 Bochum'' (1984) and his 11th album ''Mensch'' (2002) are the third and first best-selling records in Germany respectively, making Grönemeyer the most successful artist in Germany with combined album sales over 13 million.

Early life

Grönemeyer was born on 12 April 1956 in Göttingen. He often refers to his personal roots as living in Bochum though, where he spent most of his childhood, youth and early adulthood. The medical professor Dietrich Grönemeyer is his brother. Grönemeyer's interest in music was sparked at the age of 8, when he started to take piano lessons.

Career

Piano classes formed the basis for his work as a pianist and composer at the local theatre Schauspielhaus Bochum. In 1979, at the City of Cologne Theatre (Schauspielhaus Köln), he performed as Lorenzo in ''The Merchant of Venice''. Although never having attended an acting school he soon appeared in several TV productions. During one of the shootings he met his later wife, the actress . Additionally, Grönemeyer published an album he had recorded with the jazz formation Ocean Orchestra in 1978, a year in which he also composed the music for the film ''Uns reicht das nicht'' by Jürgen Flimm, together with Jens-Peter Ostendorf. His first solo album ''Grönemeyer'', which was published in 1979, was awarded the Golden Lemon for the ugliest album cover of the year. His second album ''Zwo'' was released in 1981. Neither managed to chart. In the same year he starred in Wolfgang Petersen's successful movie ''Das Boot'' as Lieutenant Werner. For the role of composer Robert Schumann in the German-German coproduction ''Spring Symphony'' (co-starring Nastassja Kinski and Rolf Hoppe), for which he also composed the film score, Grönemeyer spent six months in East Germany. During the early 1980s Grönemeyer put his main focus on his music; the next two albums ''Total egal'' (1982) and ''Gemischte Gefühle'' (1983) flopped and most concerts of the planned tour had to be cancelled.

In 1984, Grönemeyer first met success as a musician with the release of '' 4630 Bochum'' which became the best-selling album in Germany that year, particularly supported by the singles " Männer" and "Flugzeuge im Bauch". A year later Grönemeyer appeared in the TV-movie '' Väter und Söhne'', co-starring Julie Christie, Burt Lancaster and Bruno Ganz. Grönemeyer took part in Germany's first major AIDS charity organized by the famous gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim. In his next albums ''Sprünge'' (1986) and ''Ö'' (1988), he increasingly expressed his political opinion, criticising the government under German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 1986, Grönemeyer performed at the Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival against nuclear power and he composed the film score for the TV film '' Sommer in Lesmona'', for which he received the Adolf Grimme Award

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