Nestor Alexander Haddaway (born 9 January 1965) is a Trinidadian-born German singer best known for his 1993 hit single "

What Is Love "What Is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me)" is a song recorded by Trinidadian-German Eurodance artist Haddaway for his debut album, '' The Album'' (1993). The song was released in 1993 as the album's lead single. It was a hit in Europe, becoming a numbe ...

", which reached number 1 in 13 countries.

Early life

Nestor Alexander Haddaway was born in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in 1965. His mother was a nurse and his father was a marine biologist. His parents separated in the early 1970s and Haddaway first lived with his father in Europe, then with his mother in America. He was raised in Chicago and moved to the

Washington, DC metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

at the age of 9. Listening to Louis Armstrong encouraged Haddaway to learn how to play

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

at the age of 14. He attended

Meade Senior High School Meade Senior High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located at Fort Meade, Maryland, United States and is administered by Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Since its opening in 1977, Meade High School has been accredited ...

in Fort Meade, Maryland, where he was a member of the

marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

, which eventually resulted in him forming his first group titled "Chances". In 1987, Haddaway enrolled in medical school, but dropped out due to lack of excitement and moved to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, where he mostly worked in bars. Later, he formed his own company called "Energy", which was involved in organizing fashion shows and

photo shoot A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location. A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken ...

Career

In 1992, Haddaway was signed by German label Coconut Records. His debut single, "

", rapidly became popular in Europe, reaching number 2 in Germany and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In Germany, the single sold 900,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it received a music recording certification of Gold for shipment of 400,000 units. It later reached number 11 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

and was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 units. By the beginning of 1994, worldwide sales of "What Is Love" reached 2.6 million. His second single, "

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

", reached number 2 in Germany, number 6 in the United Kingdom, and number 41 in the US, and its worldwide sales reached 1.5 million by 1994. The follow-up singles " I Miss You" and "

Rock My Heart "Rock My Heart" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician Haddaway, released in March 1994 as the fourth and final single from his debut album, '' The Album'' (1993). It was written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello. Like the ...

" also reached the Top 10 in Europe and established him as a successful Eurodance artist. His first LP, '' The Album'' (also known as ''Haddaway'' in the US), was a multi-million seller which reached Platinum status in Germany for shipments of 500,000, and Gold in the UK and in France for shipments of 100,000. In 1995, he released his second album, ''

The Drive The Drive was an offensive series in the fourth quarter of the 1986 AFC Championship Game played on January 11, 1987, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns. Broncos quarterback John Elway, in a span of 5 ...

'', which included the UK top 20 hit " Fly Away", as well as "

Catch a Fire ''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had sta ...

" and "Lover Be Thy Name". "What Is Love" enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as the theme music for the Butabi brothers (

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

and Chris Kattan) on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' and the 1998 film '' A Night at the Roxbury''. The albums '' Let's Do It Now'' (1998) and ''My Face'' (2001; re-released as ''Love Makes'') all failed to chart. Haddaway appeared on the television show ''Comeback –

Die große Chance ''Die große Chance'' ("The Big Chance") is an Austrian talent television show, originally aired between 1980 and 1990, then revived in 2011. Background ''Die große Chance'' was originally broadcast by the Österreichischen Rundfunk (Austrian ...

'' in Germany in 2004. He appeared on the UK version of '' Hit Me, Baby, One More Time'' in 2005 and subsequently appeared on the U.S. version. This exposure led to him scoring a moderate chart hit in Germany with the ballad "Spaceman" from his next album, ''Pop Splits''. In 2008, "What Is Love" was featured in a commercial for

Diet Pepsi MAX Pepsi Zero Sugar (sold under the names Diet Pepsi Max until early 2009 and then Pepsi Max until August 2016), is a zero- calorie, sugar-free, ginseng-infused cola sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame K, marketed by PepsiCo. It has nearly t ...

that aired during Super Bowl XLII which parodied the leitmotif and included several stars including LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, and Busta Rhymes, but Haddaway himself did not appear in the ad. In 2008, Haddaway teamed up with Eurodance star

Dr. Alban Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), better known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian- Swedish recording artist and producer with his own record label, Dr. Records. His music can best be described as Eurodance/ hip-hop reggae in a d ...

for the single "I Love the 90's". In 2009, "What Is Love" re-entered charts after German DJ

Klaas Klaas is a Dutch male given and surname. It is the Dutch short form of Nicholas, a Greek name ultimately meaning ''victory of the people''. A traditionally common name in the Netherlands, its popularity declined some 20-fold since 1950.

remixed it. The track resurfaced again in 2010 when it sampled heavily in Eminem's single "No Love" featuring Lil Wayne. In 2012, Haddaway released the single "Up and Up" with the Mad Stuntman, which was a top 20 dance hit in the US. In 2011, he said that most of his performances are in "the east", in places such as

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

, or

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. In 2016, he announced plans to star in ''Neverending Dream'', a film about Eurodance. Despite launching a fundraiser on Indiegogo, the film was not released.

Personal life

Haddaway now lives in Kitzbühel,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and also has a home in

, Germany. Since 2019 he has been a player and sponsor of the baseball team Kufstein Wolfins

The team won the regional championships in 2019 and 202

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* Official websit
Www.haddawaychannel.com
{{Authority control 1965 births 20th-century German male singers 21st-century German male singers Arista Records artists Eurodance musicians George Washington University alumni German house musicians Living people Singers from Maryland Musicians from Cologne People from Kitzbühel People from Port of Spain 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Germany Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in the United States German expatriates in the United States German expatriates in Austria