Sarah Connor's (40) career almost sounds like something out of a fairy tale. When she was born exactly 40 years ago, no one would have thought that she would become one of the most successful German singers. And yet it happened just like that. In the 2000s she stormed the charts with songs like "From Sarah With Love" (2001) or "From Zero To Hero" (2005). After almost 20 years in the music business, the singer is still successful – despite a few glitches. You have to know about the musician:
The Connor clan
Sarah Connor was born on June 13, 1980 in Delmenhorst in Lower Saxony as Sarah Marianne Corina Lewe. Five children come from the marriage of the American copywriter Michael Lewe to the former model Soraya: Sarah, Anna-Maria (38), Marisa (33), Robin (32), Lulu (28) and Valentina (24). Sarah is not the only family member who is in public.
Sarah brought her sister Lulu to the camera at the age of nine. In the music video for "From Sarah With Love", the family chick played a major role. Seven years later, Lulu also tried to sing. Her single "Crush On You" made it into the top 20 of the German charts in 2008.
Sister Anna-Maria is in the spotlight due to her partner: Since 2012 she has been married to rapper Bushido (41). The two have four children. Mother Soraya made headlines in 2008. The reason: At 50 she gave birth to the twins Lex and Mick. The two come from their second marriage to the doctor Jürgen Tacke. Sarah Connor and her brothers have spent a full 27 years. "I actually had to get used to the fact that, despite the age difference, we have the same mother. That is a bit crazy," the singer later revealed in a conversation with "Bunte".
Love on reality TV vs. quiet family life
At the beginning of the 2000s, Sarah Connor fell in love with boy band star Marc Terenzi (41). They married in 2004 and their first child was born that year: Tyler. Two years later, the birth of her daughter Summer made the young family's happiness perfect. The two stars also shared the fans in their family life. They married again in 2005 in front of a camera and even had their own reality show on ProSieben with "Sarah & Marc in Love".
The curse of reality TV relationships did not stop at them either: From July 3, 2008 the TV show was continued as "Sarah & Marc crazy in Love". At the end of 2008, the two announced their separation, and in 2010 the end was sealed with the divorce.
Sarah Connor found a new love: In April 2010, she announced that she and her manager Florian Fischer (45), also a former boy band member, are a couple. Since then, the two have largely kept their relationship out of the public eye. There are rarely expressions of love on Instagram or shared appearances on the red carpet. The two have two children together: Delphine Malou (born 2011) and Jax Llewyn (born 2017).
Your music career
Sarah Connor started her career as an early singer. 2001 started with the hit single "Let's Get Back to Bed – Boy!" their success story. She laid the foundation stone in school when she sang in the gospel choir and in the school musical. In 12th grade she stopped school to concentrate fully on her singing career. The rest is history: she adopted the stage name Sarah Connor and reached the top of the charts with her singles like "From Sarah With Love" (2001) and "Music Is The Key" (2003). With the song "Bounce" (2003) she was even able to secure a place in the British and American charts.
Her albums also sold well. Her debut album "Green Eyed Soul" reached gold status in 2001 within a week and stayed on the charts for 21 weeks. Connor sang most of her career in English until she switched to German after a long break on her album "Muttersprache" (2015). The plan worked: The fans were enthusiastic about the change of style. She also sings in German on her latest album "Herz Kraft Werke" (2019).
Bankruptcies, bad luck and breakdowns
Sarah Connor's performances didn't always go smoothly. For example, a dress caused a scandal in 2002. With a hint of nothing, she kicked the Saturday night show "Wetten, dass ..?" on ZDF. The then 21-year-old wore a fire dress with a transparent skirt and a deep neckline. A flame scarcely covered her most intimate places. The performance was quickly forgotten. The only thing that millions of viewers wondered about was: was she wearing underwear?
"Of course I had on a pair of panties," Connor told the "Bild" newspaper shortly afterwards. This appearance nevertheless went down in history. The dress still had something good later: Connor auctioned it off for a good cause. It changed hands for just under 5,000 euros. She then donated the money to a charity.
Another slip followed in 2005. On May 31, she sang the German national anthem at the opening ceremony of the Munich Allianz Arena. The end of the song, however, was an evil text error including a shit storm. In front of almost 66,000 spectators, she sang "Brüh im Licht this Glück" instead of "Blüh im Glimmer von Glück". Blame for the mistake: the nervousness, as she later explained to the "Bild" newspaper. "I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone. Believe me, I am the most annoyed with myself."
The TV comeback
In addition to her musical career, Sarah Connor also tried various TV formats after her documentary soap. In the casting show "X Factor" she acted as a juror and coach from 2010 to 2012. In three seasons she looked, among other things, in addition to Till Brönner (49), H.P. Baxxter (56) and Moses Pelham (49) for new singing talents.
In 2014 followed the next TV project with "Sing my song – the exchange concert" at VOX. There she interpreted the songs of Xavier Naidoo (48), Sasha (48), Roger Cicero (1970-2016), Sandra Nasic (44), Gregor Meyle (41) and Andreas Gabalier (35) in her own way. This enchanted not only the audience, but also her musicians.
Thoroughbred singer with a heart
Sarah Connor scores not only with her voice, but also with her social engagement. In 2015 she campaigned for refugees and even took in a Syrian mother with her five children at home. "I think it's important to raise awareness of the need for people to come to us," the singer told "Für Sie" at the time. The artist has also been the face of a campaign for World AIDS Day and, as the patron of the World Blood Cancer Day campaign, campaigned for stem cell donors together with the DKMS.
With her music she also tries to draw attention to socially relevant issues. For example, in "Vincent" (2019) she addresses homosexuality. Connor was inspired by the conversation with a mother whose son had come out. With her song she wanted to encourage him and other young people in a situation similar to what she explained during a live performance. The song could not be heard on the radio on some stations. This was triggered by the first line of the song: "Vincent can't get anyone up when he thinks of girls." The resulting debate about the song was "good and important for dealing with the topic," she told the "Bild" newspaper.