The princes
| The princes | |
|---|---|
 The Princes (2006) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | A cappella , pop |
| founding | 1987 as Die Herzbuben 1991 as Die Prinzen |
| Website | www.dieprinzen.de |
| Current occupation | |
| Sebastian Krumbiegel (since 1987) | |
| Tobias Künzel (since 1991) | |
Tenor, guitar , piano |
Wolfgang Lenk (since 1987) |
Bass , keyboard |
Jens Sembdner (1987–1988, since 1990) |
baritone |
Henri Schmidt (since 1989) |
| Mathias Dietrich (since 1994) | |
| Alexander "Ali" Zieme (since 1991) | |
| former members | |
| Dirk Schrot (1987–1989) | |
| Kai Oliver (1988–1989) | |
The Prince is a complex of Leipzig native German music group . With almost 6 million records sold, they are among the most successful German bands. Her best-known hits include Millionär (1991), Mann im Mond (1991), Kissing forbidden (1992), Everything is only stolen (1993), You must be a pig (1995) and Germany (2001).
Band history
Beginnings
In their youth, Tobias Künzel , Sebastian Krumbiegel , Wolfgang Lenk and Henri Schmidt were members of the Leipzig St. Thomas Choir until the first half of the 1980s , and Jens Sembdner sang in the Dresden Kreuzchor .
After training as a singer , Krumbiegel and Lenk founded the band Phönix in 1981 , which was called Rockpol from 1985 onwards. Because they were not very successful, the trio Die Herzbuben was founded in 1987 with Krumbiegel, Lenk and Dirk Schrot . On the advice of manager Joachim Zetzmann, the trio tried to gain a foothold in the GDR with a cappella pieces. The producers of the GDR radio produced a dozen titles with the Herzbuben in 1987, which until the end of the GDR could only be found in the German radio archive and on various Amiga samplers. They covered the song You forgot the color film and the anthem My Generation from The Who .
Jens Sembdner joined the band in the year it was founded. From now on the band had the following line-up: Sembdner, Lenk, Krumbiegel and Schrot. When the band had achieved a not inconsiderable surge in popularity with their show, Sembdner was drafted into the NVA in autumn 1988 . He was replaced by Kai Oliver, whom the band discovered at the Leipzig University of Music , but the collaboration only lasted a year because he had decided to leave the GDR. Henri Schmidt followed as a replacement. Dirk Schrot also left the band and the country in November 1989. Due to the frequent staff changes, the band was inactive until Jens Sembdner's return in January 1990. Manager Zetzmann had relationships with ZDF and the music publisher George Glueck , so they took their hats off in the young talent show . George Glueck was a member of the jury and made contact with Annette Humpe .
1990 to 1999
In the fall of 1990 Humpe visited the band to get to know them. Then she booked Anselm Kluge's recording studio in November 1990 to make her first recordings. In order to avoid confusion with the Wildecker Herzbuben who suddenly became very famous at the same time , the band adopted the new name Die Prinzen in April 1991 .
One day before the photo session for the single cover, Tobias Künzel, who had been a member of the band Amor & die Kids until 1989 and then tried a solo career, got in. Ali Zieme joined the band as a drummer in August 1991. Immediately afterwards they had their breakthrough with their first hit Gabi and Klaus . In September of the same year, they released their first album, Life is cruel , and went on tour with Udo Lindenberg .
The princes went on their own club tour in the spring of 1992, accompanied by drummer Ali Zieme. In the fall they released the single and the album Kissing forbidden . In December 1992 the princes were in Frankfurt am Main at the festival Heute die! Morning you! on stage to represent their commitment against right-wing and xenophobic tendencies with their title bomb .
From February to May 1993 they went on tour. Mathias Dietrich joined the band as bass player in 1994. In addition, the single and the album Alles nur stolen came on the market that year, followed by the associated tour in 1994. A video of the most successful tour was recorded and released in Leipzig. A year later the single You must be a pig and the album pigs were released . The band changed their style, because the music became rockier and they increasingly used electronic aids. The lyrics were more about sex and society, the choice of words became more aggressive. The central statement ("You have to be a pig in this world"), even if it was meant ironically, stood in stark contrast to the lyrics of the first three albums.
From November to December 1995 they went on tour through Germany. In 1996 the next single and the next album Alles mit'm Mund , which was produced by Stefan Raab and Lenk, were released. The tour followed in 1997. There was also a best-of album in the same year at the very top: Hits MCMXCI - MCMXCVII . After these many albums every year, Die Prinzen took a creative break. In 1999 the album So much fun was released for little money ; The Christmas album HDD followed in the same year . Afterwards there was a Christmas club tour to the hard drive .
2000 to 2010
At the beginning of 2000 there was again a collaboration with Annette Humpe in Hamburg to produce the eighth studio album. After many years of collaboration, they parted ways with the manager Joachim Zetzmann. His successor was Andreas Läsker . The album D was released on October 1, 2001 . The first single Germany reached number 15 in the German single charts. Until December 2001 Die Prinzen played 10 years of Prinzen concerts in Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland with their anniversary tour . In 2003, Monarchie In Germany followed as their ninth studio album. The accompanying single Chronisch Pleite placed like the album in the charts. In November 2004 came a new album with Hardchor .
Here, however, the style clearly turned away from electronic music and towards acoustic pop-rock. In 2006 they celebrated their 15th anniversary with the Akustisch Live tour . In November 2006 the Prinzen gave a concert with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra , which was released the following spring on DVD and CD with the title Die Prinzen - Orchestral . In 2007 they toured the castles and worked with the singer Annett Louisan . On the CD The Optimal Life , they supported the singer with the song Mein innerer Schweinhund . On September 5, 2008, the new single Women Are The New Men was released from the album The New Men, which was released on September 26, 2008 . On this album they also play with the Denglish theme .
Since 2010
In 2011 the princes celebrated their 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, on November 19, 2010, they released the best-of album It wasn't all bad . On June 1, 2011, the band gave an open-air concert on the opening evening of the 33rd German Evangelical Church Congress . In 2013 the princes went on a church tour across Germany.
On February 23, 2015 it was announced that Sebastian Krumbiegel and Tobias Künzel will take part in the program Sing mein Song - Das Tauschkonzert (2nd season). Other participants were Christina Stürmer, Yvonne Catterfeld, Andreas Bourani, Daniel Wirtz, Hartmut Engler and host Xavier Naidoo. The show was a huge success. The CD for this second season “Sing my Song - The Exchange Concert” reached number 1 in the German album charts and stayed in the top 10 of the German album charts for weeks and in the top 100 for months. In October 2015 this album was awarded platinum. The following prince songs were performed by the various artists:
- All just stolen
- You must be a pig
- millionaire
- Kissing prohibited
- Everything with my mouth
- Lullaby
- Germany
In addition, the princes presented a new song entitled He's in the rain .
A new studio album entitled Family Album , which was the first studio album in seven years, was released on May 29, 2015 to match the program . The first single was the ballad He stands in the rain . On the new album, the princes went back to their roots. The sound of the album is reminiscent of the early Prinzen albums. The focus here was mainly on the five vocal parts and were accompanied by drums and bass at the most. The album immediately made it to number 9 in the German album charts and is thus the first top ten album since 1999. For the first time since 2001 it reached the Austrian album charts and after 1995 even returned to the Swiss album charts. On July 31, 2015, the second single from the family album was released with our best times .
In 2015 the princes were awarded the European Culture Prize for Social Commitment . The award ceremony took place in autumn.
On October 16, 2015 the live double CD, DVD and Blu-ray Die Prinzen - Eine Nacht in der Oper was released . It is a recording of her concert from the beginning of June 2015 at the Leipzig Opera. Guests were Andreas Bourani and Xavier Naidoo as well as the choir and orchestra of the Leipzig Musical Comedy. While the CD entered the German album charts at number 39, the DVD and Blu-ray reached number 12 on the German music DVD charts in the first week.
In 2016 the princes will celebrate their 25th anniversary. Her tour is appropriately called "25 Years on Probation". The tour started on February 24th and leads across Germany.
On March 11, 2017, the TV broadcaster VOX broadcast the documentary "25 Years of The Princes - The Documentary Event". For this documentary, the TV broadcaster accompanied the band for a few weeks in 2016. In the documentary, the seven princes were interviewed by seven celebrities. In addition, companions like Annette Humpe and Udo Lindenberg talk about their experiences with the band. The documentary also tells the story of the band in detail and gives insights into the life of the princes, also away from the stage.
From spring 2018 the princes will be on tour with an orchestra. Her tour takes her across Germany a. a. Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig. A highlight is the concert in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Many concerts were sold out after a short time.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
|||
| 1991 | Life is cruel |
DE5  × 2
(78 weeks)DE |
AT39 (2 weeks) AT |
CH20th  (13 weeks)CH |
First published: September 9, 1991
Sales: + 1,025,000 |
| 1992 | Kissing prohibited |
DE6th × 3
(48 weeks)DE |
- |
CH21st (5 weeks)CH |
First published: September 28, 1992
Sales: + 775,000 |
| 1993 | All just stolen |
DE4th × 3
(41 weeks)DE |
AT2 (16 weeks)AT |
CH13 (17 weeks)CH |
First published: November 12, 1993
Sales: + 800,000 |
| 1995 | Pigs |
DE3 (37 weeks)DE |
AT6 (15 weeks) AT |
CH22 (12 weeks) CH |
First published: April 24, 1995
Sales: + 250,000 |
| 1996 | Everything with my mouth |
DE25 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: October 21, 1996
|
| 1999 | So much fun for little money |
DE9 (17 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: May 10, 1999
|
| 2001 | D. |
DE13 (20 weeks) DE |
AT50 (6 weeks) AT |
- |
First published: October 1, 2001
|
| 2003 | Monarchy in Germany |
DE17 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: March 17, 2003
|
| 2004 | HardChor |
DE61 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: November 22, 2004
|
| 2008 | The new men |
DE42 (4 weeks) DE |
- | - |
First published: September 26, 2008
|
| 2015 | Family album |
DE9 (8 weeks) DE |
AT52 (2 weeks) AT |
CH52 (2 weeks) CH |
First published: May 29, 2015
|
Honourings and prices
The princes received eleven gold records and four platinum awards, and have received numerous awards since 1993.
- 1993: in the category "Group National Rock / Pop"
- 1994: in the category "national video clip" (everything just stolen)
Golden tuning fork / Golden Europe
- 1993, 1998
- 1992: "Gold" in the "Band" category
- 1992: in the "Newcomer National" category
- 1994: in the category "Video of the Year"
Others
- 1993: German Music Prize
- 1999: Fred Jay Prize
- 2006: Prize of the Association Against Forgetting - For Democracy
- 2012: Honorary Award of the German Sustainability Award
- 2015: European Culture Prize Pro Europa
literature
- Claudia Wiegand: The princes . Paul Zsolnay Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3-552-05127-9 .
- Ernst Hofacker: The official Prince's book - facts, photos, background . edel company, 1994, ISBN 3-927801-81-X .
- Peter Wendling: Die Prinzen - The history of the German super group . Goldmann Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-442-43425-4 .
- Jürgen Stark: The Prinzen - The German super group . ECON Verlag, 1996, ISBN 3-612-12003-4 (with a foreword by Sebastian Krumbiegel).
- Jürgen Reits, Mark Daniel: Alles mit'm Mund - The Prinzen-Buch for royal culinary delights . ECON Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-612-12022-0 .
Web links
- Web presence of the princes
- The princes at laut.de
- Interview , March 25, 2010, YouTube
- Works by and about Die Prinzen in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dirk Schrots Biography ( page no longer available , search in web archives ). Retrieved on March 27, 2011.
- ↑ The princes . In: Pop-Archiv International 03/2006 / Munzinger-Archiv . March 11, 2006.
- ↑ wochenkurier.info: "Prinzen" receive European Culture Prize
- ↑ As of 2002
- ↑ Chronology
- ↑ echo . In: Pop-Archiv International 04/2010 / Munzinger-Archiv . April 15, 2010.
- ↑ RSH Gold Award 1992
- ↑ RSH Gold Award 1994