Sandra Cretu (born as Sandra Ann Lauer May 18, 1962, Saarbrücken, Germany) is a popular German singer/songwriter currently living in Ibiza (Spain). She was lead singer of the disco trio Arabesque, but is most known for her work as a solo artist, enjoying a massive following in Europe (especially during the 1980's); she can also be heard on her husband, Michael Cretu`s project Enigma, as the mysterious female voice.
The Early Years
Sandra was first noticed at the age of thirteen during the Saarbrücken "Young Star Festival." Aided by her newfound recognition, she released the single "Andy mein Freund", a song about a pet dog; however, the single performed poorly on the charts dominated by disco fever at that time. Sandra withdrew from the music scene for a few years, however, never to let go of her dream of becoming a performing artist.
After finishing school, Sandra now 16, joined the all girl trio Arabesque, participating from 1979 to 1984. The group, also consisting of Michaela Rose and Jasmine Vetter, already had a few line up changes before Sandra was signed up, and their road to success was set. Arabesque was extremely popular in Japan with their outrageous, sometimes daring costumes, dance routines and cheerful music that can be compared to ABBA and Boney M. They enjoyed success in several other countries and scored the top 10 hit "Marigot Bay" in Germany. After 9 studio albums, a difference of musical interests and the end of disco's popularity, signalled the group's final breakup. Jasmine and Michaela continued as a duo with the shortlived group Rouge.
While a part of Arabesque, Sandra had met her future husband Michael Cretu; after the group parted ways, he became her new producer. Their first single together 1984 was a cover of the Alphaville song "Japan ist weit" (Big in Japan); a perfect way to describe her fame up until then. Although being a good production, the song was a major flop and failed to reach the charts. However, her team now known just as Sandra, persisted and she finally found success.
The Rise to Fame
Her first album, "The Long Play" 1985, reached the top 10 in her home country Germany, while the single "Maria Magdalena" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide, and reached the top 10 in 5 more countries. The song was, however, aimed at the continental European market, so it never received an upgraded promotional video. In mainland Europe personal appearances remained the most important method of record promotion until the early 90s. The follow-up single was called "In The Heat Of The Night", which earned Sandra the second place at the Tokyo Music Festival in 1986 and was, in turn, follwed by "Little Girl". Her next few albums reflected the continuous musical development that Michael Cretu is known for. Thus, Sandra's music never grew boring, and she continued her success with a string of hits such from "Hi! Hi! Hi!" to "Everlasting Love". Two years after her debut album she put out a Greatest Hits compilation "Ten On One"1987, testimony to her quick rise to fame. At this stage Sandra was already known as the "European queen of pop" and rivalled Madonna in terms of her popularity and top 10 hits.
Sandra's personal life was equally successful; on January 7, 1988, she married Michael Cretu and relocated from Munich to the Spanish island Ibiza. During this time she recorded the album "Into A Secret Land" and moved away slightly from electro-pop to a more mysterious and seductive sound. This proved to be a huge success as the album delivered four hit singles including "Heaven can Wait" and "We'll Be Together". She ended off the 80's as the most popular female performer in Europe with sold out concerts in Moscow.
Her hit album "Paintings In Yellow" 1990 gave her another top 10 hit with a surprising cover version of Wishful Thinking's "Hiroshima". Elements of this song foreshadowed the Enigma sound, which was particularly evident on the album track "The Journey". She then took a short break from recording solo to unofficially participate in Michael's new project Enigma, as the mysterious voice on some tracks. The massive popularity of the Enigma kept her husband occupied for the next few years.
Subsequent Sandra albums no longer performed as well commercially. "Close To Seven" 1992; regarded by many as her best work to date, continued a development towards a more meditative, less dance oriented musical style and appearance. She obviously wanted to get rid of her teen idol image and perform for a more mature audience. Although "Don't Be Aggressive" entered the European top 20, the subsequent singles failed to achieve the same success. In 1993 she released a new techno version of "Maria Magdalena" with a futuristic music video, which did not catch on.
In 1995 whilst pregnant with her twins, Nikita and Sebastian, she recorded and released "Fading Shades", featuring a cover version of "Nights in White Satin". She then took a break from music.
In 1999 a double disc album was released. As the trend began with artists like Modern Talking to remix old material, "My Favourites" was released featuring remixes of her hits as well as some of her personal favourite ballads. "Secret Land `99"" was taken as the single and showed Sandra sporting a short hairstyle in the music video. Sandra's first studio album in seven years came with "The Wheel Of Time" in 2002; reaching nr8 on the German album charts. The first single "Forever" had moderate success and showed a new mature, more natural looking Sandra, still with short hair.
Sandra's public appearances were few and far in between when word got out in 2005 that the Swiss superstar Dj Bobo was planning a duet with her. She met DJ Bobo during the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo in 2002, when her husband accepted the prize for best selling German artist. That meeting let to the single "The Secrets Of Love" in 2006. The catchy dance anthem reached the NR5 spot in Switerland and NR13 in Germany. The music video was shot in Disney World Paris with Sandra and DJ Bobo being the only artists ever allowed to film inside the Cinderella castle. During this time Sandra took up performing live again and signs of her retro `80's look, with the famous long hair, could be seen again. Sandra had something up her sleeve...
**Latest News**
Her 2006 album is called "Reflections - The Reproduced Hits", an album with her best hits completely re-produced by various producers and top DJ's . The release date was 9/29/06.
The studio album "The Art Of Love" was released 2/23/07. Her first single "The Way I Am" from the album was released 1/26/07. "The Art Of Love" is completely produced by Jens Gad and will see Sandra doing much of the song writing herself. The album will also see her moving into a new musical direction with contributions from Sinéad O'Connor and Rick Nowels to name a few.
After the highly anticipated studio album was released in February 2007, it reached 16 on the official German album chart Media Control. The album was completely produced by Jens Gad, without any contribution by Michael Cretu.
The first single "The Way I Am" was released in January 2007, reaching 50 on the official German chart Media Control, despite little promotion from Sandra's record company and no music video made for "The Way I Am". The second single, "What Is It About Me" was released on May 18.
