Thomas Anders

Bernd Weidung (born 1 March 1963), known by his stage name Thomas Anders, is a German singer, songwriter and record producer.

He is best known as the only vocalist of the pop duo Modern Talking.

Starting his singing career while still in school, Anders unsuccessfully attempted to establish himself as a Schlager artist for several years.

Following a string of performances at several clubs and discothèques, Anders participated in a music contest organized by the radio station Radio Luxembourg in 1979, which he walked away from without earning enough points.

Two days after the contest, Anders was offered a record contract by the same jury members of the radio contest.

He signed his first record contract with CBS while still in school and took up the stage name of Thomas Anders, performing in the then-popular German Schlager genre.

In 1980, at the age of 17, he published his first single, Schlager ballad "Judy", which failed to chart.

A year later, he appeared in German TV show Hätten Sie heut' Zeit für mich? and performed his second single, "Du weinst um ihn", another Schlager ballad.

Again, the song failed to make an impact, as did his third single, "Es war die Nacht der ersten Liebe", an attempt at an upbeat Schlager song.

Consequently, he was released by CBS in late 1981.

He finished his 'Abitur' in 1982 at Eichendorff-Gymnasium in Koblenz, to take advanced music classes.

After that, he studied musicology, publishing and German studies for five semesters at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, with the intention to become a music journalist, while also trying to become a singer.

However, after getting his big break as the lead singer of Modern Talking, he dropped out to focus on his career.

After finishing school, Anders signed a contract with Hansa Records in 1982.

He next released another commercially unsuccessful Schlager ballad, "Ich will nicht dein Leben", produced by fellow Schlager artist G.G. Anderson.

After forming the Eurodisco duo Modern Talking with Dieter Bohlen in 1983, they became a worldwide sensation with their hit "You're My Heart, You're My Soul".

In 1983, he was approached by Intersong, a subsidiary of Hansa, whether he was interested to record several German Schlager cover versions of English songs.

Thus, he was introduced to producer Dieter Bohlen, with whom he recorded "Was macht das schon?", the German cover version of F. R. David's "Pick Up the Phone" and also "Heißkalter Engel", the German cover version of Real Life's "Send Me an Angel".

From late 1983 to the mid of 1984 Bohlen produced other tracks for Anders including "Wovon träumst du denn", "Endstation Sehnsucht" and "Es geht mir gut heut' Nacht", which he performed at German TV shows such as Night Club.

As was the case with his previous attempts at Schlager music, however; all of these songs failed to achieve commercial or critical success.

They followed up with a string of other hits, namely "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)", "Geronimo's Cadillac", and "Jet Airliner", before dissolving in 1987.

After the two break-ups of Modern Talking, Anders performed as a solo artist during the 1990s and after 2003.

During the first Modern Talking split, he released six studio albums, none of which managed to chart, whereas some singles such as "Love of My Own" achieved mediocre success.

Only his Spanish language album Barcos de Cristal (1994) proved successful in Argentina, where its eponymous title track climbed to number 1.

In 1998, they reunited and produced several new songs such as "You Are Not Alone", "Sexy, Sexy Lover", "No Face, No Name, No Number", "Ready for the Victory", and "TV Makes the Superstar", before dissolving again in 2003.

Their controversial break-ups led to several lawsuits and heavy coverage from the German tabloid press.

During their two stints together, the duo sold 120 million records worldwide and received numerous sales certifications around the globe.

Following the second break-up, Anders started a more successful solo career, with his album This Time (2004) reaching number 14 in Germany and producing number 1 hits in Russia and Turkey.

In 2006, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv made him an honorary professor for "shaping the musical taste of a generation", and he holds the distinction for being the best-selling foreign artist of all time in Russia.

Anders was born in Koblenz, West Germany and grew up in the small village of Mörz, a suburb of Münstermaifeld, with an older brother and a younger sister.

His father worked as a civil servant at the local revenue service agency, while his mother ran a convenience store.

He began showing interest in music early as a child, and subsequently took piano and singing lessons.

He did his first stage-performance at the age of six, playing Saint Nicholas in a religious children's play.

At the age of ten, he entered a singing contest and won against 100 other children.

As a prize, he performed over 300 times at a local music hall in Koblenz, offering a variety of children's songs and Schlager music.

During his childhood, he performed as "Bernie von der Mosel".

Anders attended Kurfürst-Balduin-Gymnasium in Münstermaifeld.

His 2010 album Strong reached Platinum status in Russia for sales of more than 650,000 copies.

Two (2010), a collaboration album with Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen reached number 11 in Germany, while his first German language album Pures Leben (2017) climbed at number 14.

While being unable to match his success with Modern Talking with his solo career, Anders is considered a musical icon in Eastern Europe, where he is more revered than in his native country and regularly performs stadium tours and on New Year's Eve in Poland.