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Sarah Terenzi (née Lewe; born June
13, 1980), better known as Sarah Connor, is a German singer and
songwriter. She debuted in 2001 under the guidance of musicians Rob Tyger
and Kay Denar and became the first act to ever have four consecutive
chart-topping hits on the German Media Control singles chart. Following
success in mainland Europe with her single "From Sarah with Love," a
series of hit records established her position as one of the most
successful German pop vocalists to emerge in the early 2000s with the
sales of over 12 million copies worldwide.
Connor's personal life began to gain substantial media attention after her
2005 marriage to American pop-rock musician Marc Terenzi, which resulted
in two children, Tyler (born in 2004), and Summer (born in 2006).
Connor is the eldest of six siblings born to Michael Lewe, an advertising
writer of American descent, and his wife Soraya Lewe-Tacke (née Gray), a
former fashion model and homemaker of Scottish, Irish and German heritage,
in Delmenhorst, Lower Saxony. She has four sisters: Anna Maria, Marisa,
Sophia-Luisa, and Valentina; and one brother, Robin. Her maternal
half-brothers Mick and Lex were born in 2008.
Connor grew up listening to soul music, mostly influenced by her paternal
grandfather who was born in New Orleans. A church choir became her first
experience in the gospel music field at a very young age. In her teen
years Connor tried out and was accepted to a performing arts school.
Although all students were required to choose an instrument, Connor was
the only one allowed to study voice. She took vocal lessons once a week
and worked as a waitress in a hotel to pay for them.
In 1997, Connor was picked to sing with the backing choir during the
performance of "Heal the World" at Michael Jackson's HIStory concert tour
in Bremen, Germany. Overwhelmed by a personal meeting with Jackson at the
end of the show, she signed a contract with her first management the
following year, that resulted in her pseudonym Sarah Gray and the
recording of a number of demo tapes, including cover versions such as
"Silent Night" and "This Christmas" and the local radio success "Ula la
Ula." In 1999, she provided the leading vocals for producer Michael van
Linden's dance remix of the 1982 record "Last Unicorn," which reached
number 86 on the German Singles Chart. Unhappy with her management though,
Connor teamed up with manager Carlo Vista, who got her signed as Sarah
Connor with producer George Glueck's label X-Cell Records a short time
after. As a direct consequence, she decided to quit school and leave home
at the age of 19.
Connor fluctuated between Hamburg, Hannover and Berlin to work on her
debut album, involving producers such as Bülent Aris, Toni Cottura, Diane
Warren, and the production duo Rob Tyger and Kay Denar. Green Eyed Soul
which was eventually released on November 26, 2001 in German-speaking
Europe; Connor co-wrote four songs on the album which yielded her first
two singles “Let’s Get Back to Bed – Boy!,” a collaboration with American
singer TQ, and “French Kissing,” a song based on BLACKstreet’s “No
Diggity.” However, it was the album’s third single “From Sarah with Love”
which reached the top position in Germany, Poland, Portugal and
Switzerland and raised Connor’s fame all over Europe. The song garnered
the singer a Comet and an ECHO Award. Album reviews were generally
positive, with laut.de especially praising Connor’s vocal strengths.
Only ten months later, her second album Unbelievable (2002) was released
in Europe. Wyclef Jean wrote, produced and rapped on the album’s lead
single, “One Nite Stand (of Wolves and Sheep),” which once again entered
the top 5. Unbelievable simultaneously achieved gold status in Germany
within 48 hours and spawned another three singles, including Diane
Warren-penned “Skin on Skin,” “He's Unbelievable” and “Bounce” (which
would be released as a single on 3 different occasions and countries
including the United States.)
In October 2003, Connor released a live DVD branded Sarah Connor Live – A
Night to Remember: Pop Meets Classic, whose performance had been recorded
at the Alten Kasselhaus in Düsseldorf on January 24, including indiviudal
performances of own songs with a classical orchestra backing her up. In
November 2003, in spite of being heavily pregnant with her first child,
Connor released her third album called, Key to My Soul. The album’s first
single, “Music Is the Key” featuring New York a cappella singers Naturally
7, became her second number-one hit in Germany. “Just One Last Dance”, the
album's second and final single, was a re-recorded edition of the album’s
original version, including new vocals by Marc Terenzi’s band Natural. The
duet once again reached number-one in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland
and the top 20 on a composite World Top 40.
The album "Sarah Connor" is a combined position of their hits. The first
Sing it is "Bounce". Connor released in many countries. Including Japan,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In Germany, the
single made it to a 14 place in the charts. In England and Ireland at
number 14 on the 23rd In Australia at number 20 and sat from 35.00 copies
and therefore was gold. In America, the success was only in the medium
brass: The song only managed to place 54 of the Billboard Hot 100 The
album made it at number 106 and took off in the U.S. almost 100.000
copies.
After the success she worked on her album "Naughy but nice." It came in
Germany No. 1 on the charts and earned platinum.After a short hitaus
following the birth of her son Tyler, Connor returned with “Living to Love
You,” which again peaked at number-one in Germany and Switzerland. In
March 2005, she contributed to the soundtrack of the computer-animated
movie Robots with her single “From Zero to Hero;” The song which became
her fifth chart-topping single in Germany and the fourth number-one hit
single in a row. The following summer Connor and husband Marc Terenzi
starred in their own reality show Sarah and Marc in Love on the ProSieben
network. The series was a one off type documentary that led up to Sarah
and Marc’s re-wedding in Spain at the end of July. A DVD featuring all of
the episodes was released on November 25, 2005.
In December 2005, as Connor toured to support her new album Naughty but
Nice, Connor released a Christmas album barnded Christmas in My Heart. Its
same-titled lead single reached number 4 on the German Singles Chart,
while the album reached the top 10 of the domestic albums chart. Following
this, it was announced during her tour in December 2005 that Connor was
again pregnant and so for the time being her music was put on hold.
On November 24, 2006 Connor released a new Christmas single titled “The
Best Side of Life.” The song debuted at number 6 on the German Singles
Charts and was used for Coca Cola’s christmas promotional campaign in
Germany. On the same date Connor also reissued her Christmas album,
Christmas in My Heart, this time featuring the new single. The reissue
debuted at number 49 in Germany. Her final 2006 release was the Christmas
in My Heart DVD.
In February 2007, it was announced that Connor was working on a new album,
called Soulicious. Mainly made up of 1970’s Motown covers, but also
including two originals, the album spawned the single “The Impossible
Dream (The Quest),” which was featured in a publicity campaign for the
comeback fight of German boxer Henry Maske. Eventually released on March
30, 2007 the album debuted at number 6 on the German Albums Charts. The
album's second single, a remixed version of Marvin Gaye's “Sexual
Healing”, featuring the American singer Ne-Yo in support, charted at
number 11 in Germany. A third single, “Son of a Preacher Man” was released
towards the end of the year.
Heading into a new musical direction, Connor started intensifying work on
her sixth regular studio album with producers such as Remee, Thomas
Troelsen and J.R. Rotem. On May 21, 2008, it was announced Connor and her
family would once again participate in an eight-part reality show titled
Sarah and Marc: Still Crazy in Love" on ProSieben. The special began
airing on July 3, 2008, and followed the recording and promotional events
for the new album, branded Sexy as Hell. Its first single, "Under My
Skin," co-written by Troelsen, was released on August 1, 2008, in
German-speaking Europe, with the album following on August 22, 2008. The
second single, "I kiss it away" was ranked 21 of the German charts.
Subsequently, she was nominated at the Echo but did not win against
Stefanie Heinzmann. In the whole time she was often look in the press,
until her divorce from husband Marc Terenzi and then with her affair with
the Bremen Fussballapieler Diego.
In April 2009 she released a duet with singer Enrique Iglesias called
"Takin' Back My Love". The song peaked #9 in Germany and was a hit in
several countries within Europe. The song chartet at number 9 in Germany.
She is also wanted dead by a robot from the future known as "The
Terminator" after her role in birthing the future leader of the resistance
against a robotic entity known as "skynet".
Connor speaks three languages fluently: English, German, and Spanish.
In 1997, Connor started dating singer Martin Scholz, who was a member of
the German boy band Touché and thus, shared the same management with her.
Their three-year relationship ended in early 2000.
Following rumors about affairs with fellow collaborators TQ and Wyclef
Jean, Connor met Marc Terenzi, lead singer of American boy band Natural,
backstage at Bravo Happy Holidays festival in Rust, Germany on July 27,
2002. In June 2003 the couple became engaged and announced Sarah was
pregnant with their first child, Tyler Marc Terenzi, who was born on
February 2, 2004 in Orlando, Florida.
On February 29, 2004 the couple invited their friends to a dinner
supposedly to celebrate the birth of their son; however they announced
that they in fact had eloped. The couple renewed their vows this time with
a big family wedding on August 18, 2005 in Altafulla, Tarragonès, near
Barcelona in Spain. The wedding was the subject of their reality show
Sarah and Marc in Love.
On June 23, 2006 Connor gave birth to their second child, a girl, named
Summer Antonia Soraya. Summer was named after Terenzi's mother Antonia and
Connor's mother Soraya. It was revealed a short time later that Summer had
a hole in her heart. Summer had an operation in August 2006, and has been
in good health since.
In November 2008 the couple announced their separation to the Bild tabloid
newspaper.
Connor is alleged in a relationship with Brazilian footballer Diego Ribas
da Cunha, although the couple claims to be just good friends.
Connor has made an impact in Germany as well as surrounding countries. She
is one of the best-selling German artists of all time, holding records for
having four consecutive number ones (ending with “From Zero to Hero”), the
first artist to accomplish this, and five number ones overall (four of
which are ballads); she ties with Modern Talking and Boney M for this
latter feat.
Image wise, her image and logo have graced several products. In Germany
outside of her own promotional merchandise, she has her own line of jeans,
perfume, and her own cakes.
Connor has also been embroiled in a few controversies. In January 2002,
she performed on the popular German television show Wetten, dass..?
wearing a tight and revealing dress. Rumors swirled she had worn no
panties, which created such a controversy that the front pages of popular
tabloids (including Bild) ran headlines about it. Connor had actually worn
skin colored panties so they would not show. She later auctioned the dress
off for charity.
In June 2005, she got into another controversy, when she performed the
German national anthem at the opening ceremony of the new stadium in
Munich, at the Allianz Arena, singing “Brüh im Lichte dieses Glückes”
(“Scald in the light of this fortune”) instead of “Blüh im Glanze dieses
Glückes” (“Flourish in the blessing of this fortune”). This faux pas was
documented in her show 'Sarah and Marc in Love'.
Some of the impact and controversy has also touched her personal life. In
2005, German comedian Oliver Pocher mocked and parodied Connor’s reality
show Sarah and Marc in Love on his show Rent a Pocher. Not liking having
her family mocked, Connor brought legal action against him. The outcome is
unknown but he did eventually apologize.
With the debut single "Let's Get Back To Bed - Boy!, along with rapper TQ,
Connor managed in 2001 not only made it into the German charts, but also
landed a hit in the United Kingdom. With the single "From Sarah with Love"
and the debut album "Green Eyed Soul", they reached the final breakthrough
in Europe. "From Sarah with love" has sold in Germany almost 500.000
times. It has also received a gold award in Belgium. It is Connor's most
successful song. It came in the top ten in Hungary, Finland, the
Netherlands, Belgium and also number one in Switzerland, Germany and
Portugal.
The song "Bounce!" 2003, managed to jump into the U.S. charts and was also
a hit in Japan, in addition, it was in Australia, Gold (for more than
35.000 copies sold). The album "Sarah Connor" has changed in the U.S. its
almost sold 100,000 times. In Germany, she landed with "Music Is the Key",
"Just One Last Dance", "Living to Love You", "From Zero to Hero" and the
album "Naughty but Nice" equal to five-point one-placings in a row. |
