Kaya Brüel (born 30 August 1972) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

singer, songwriter and actress. As an 18-year-old, Brüel signed a contract with the record company Replay Records. Brüel received an advance of DKK 20,000 in exchange for releasing three albums on the company. Brüel debuted in 1991 with cover versions of hits from the 60s and 70s on the album Kaya, produced by Jens Rugsted. The album sold 80,000 copies. This was followed by The State I'm In (1992) and Sweet Reality (1995), which could not measure up to the success of the debut album. At the same time, Brüel felt that she had been led astray by the record company, which showed little interest in Brüel's own written songs. In response to the established record industry, Kaya released her fourth album on jazz musician

Thomas Blachman Thomas Blachman (born 1963) is a Danish jazz musician, composer, and judge on the Danish version of ''X Factor''. Biography Blachman is the son of Henning and Annie Blachman. One of his grandfathers is Isak Blachman, a Jewish immigrant from Vite ...

's record label ManRec. The jazz and soul album Complex was well received by the music press, but did not become a commercial success. In 2000, she sang the vocals for the

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

single Light A Rainbow by Danish Tukan, which in 2001 reached number 38 on the English charts. In 2006, Brüel's Jeg fandt en sang på veje was released as an album of children's songs with music by great-grandfather Axel Brüel to lyrics by

Halfdan Rasmussen Halfdan Wedel Rasmussen (29 January 1915 in Copenhagen – 2 March 2002) was a Danish poet. He was known for his literary nonsense verse for children and his serious adult writings about social issues and human rights. He was awarded with the ...

. The album received a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

for 15,000 copies sold in 2008. Brüel returned to jazz music on the album The Love List from 2008, which consists of her own compositions and songs from the theater performance Woyzeck with music by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

. Brüel has sung several contributions on

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterp ...

's Oh Abe releases and has voiced several cartoons, including The Jungle Beast Hugo, with which she debuted in 1993, where she voiced the fox Rita. She has also appeared in plays such as

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

from 2004. In 2006 she was a judge on the TV show Showtime and on 7 October, she participated in the entertainment program Gu 'Ske Lov Du Kom on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

. In 2010 she participated in the

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fe ...

with the song "Only Tonight", which moved on from the preliminary round. Brüel participated in 2011 in Vild med dans with the professional dancer Steen Lund.

Personal life

Brüel is the daughter of singer

Sanne Brüel Sanne Brüel (12 April 1952 – 17 June 2011) was a Danish actress, composer and singer who, among other things. became known from DR's Christmas calendar Jullerup Færgeby, where she played Kaja. Brüel was the twin sister of Rebecca Brüel, w ...

and architect Niels Herskind. She is married to film director Kenneth Kainz, with whom she has a daughter, Asta, and a son, Alois.

Discography

* ''Kaya'' (1991) * ''The State I'm In'' (1992) * ''Sweet Reality'' (1995) * ''Complex'' (1999) * ''Jeg fandt en sang på vejen'' (2006) * ''The Love List'' (2008) * ''Med Dannebrog på næsen'' (2008) * ''Julen varer længe'' (with Ole Kibsgaard) (2010) * ''Nu&Nær'' (2016)

Filmography

Movies

Theater

Television

Serier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruel, Kaya 1972 births Living people Actresses from Copenhagen Singers from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish women singers Danish film actresses Danish stage actresses Danish television actresses Danish jazz singers Danish pop singers 21st-century Danish women singers