Nadja Benaissa

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Nadja Benaissa at the Kiel Week (2008)

Nadja Benaissa (born  April 26, 1982 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German R&B and pop singer . She became known as a member of the girl group No Angels .

Life

youth

Nadja Benaissa was born in 1982 as the second child to a Moroccan and his German- Serbian wife and grew up with her two years older brother in Langen near Frankfurt am Main. She attended the Dreieich School in Langen. She first showed interest in music at the age of nine when she began taking piano and flute lessons outside of school . She sang in the fifth grade in the school musical "Tabaluga". With a friend she took 2nd place in Jugend musiziert . As a teenager she took lessons in the Rodin dance-ballet studio in Langen; she was also a member of various rock bands . After public allegations by her ex-boyfriend, she confirmed in a stern TV interview in 2001 that she was addicted to crack at the age of 14 until she was 16 when she was pregnant .

On October 25, 1999, Benaissa gave birth to a daughter. During the preventive medical check-ups during pregnancy , she was diagnosed with HIV infection in the first trimester . A vertical infection of the child could be prevented by a highly active antiretroviral therapy and a caesarean section . After the birth, she had no contact with the father of her child. She broke off attending an evening secondary school as the best in her class without a degree in order to take part in the talent show Popstars .

No Angels

See main article No Angels
Nadja Benaissa (2002)

In September 2000, Benaissa was one of five women in the context of the first season of II RTL broadcast Casting competition Popstars as members of the girl group No Angels were selected. At the end of 2003 the group broke up with the release of the album The Best of No Angels in favor of a longer break and solo careers. In January 2007 Benaissa started a comeback with three other founding members of the No Angels with the album Destiny .

On September 7, 2010 she announced her departure from the band.

Solo career

In contrast to her former colleagues, who all appeared solo in the year after the band break, Benaissa turned her back on the limelight for some time - according to her own statements, in order to devote herself to her daughter. In the meantime, she was seen on television as an advertising medium for Nike and in a supporting role in the film Eine unter Tausend  (2004).

In 2005 Benaissa was signed as a solo artist with Universal Music (Urban) . In the summer of 2005, she released her first solo single Es ist Liebe , which earned her a nomination for the 1Live Krone in the “Best Artist” category. In late autumn, Simply Red hired her as a support act for their tour of Germany .

At the beginning of 2006 Benaissa's second single Ich hab 'dich was released parallel to her debut album Step by Step . With this song, the singer took part in the second Bundesvision Song Contest for Hesse , where she took fourth place. Afterwards she could be heard next to Laith Al-Deen , Mieze Katz and others in the course of the Soccer World Cup 2006 on the Fury-in-the-Slaughterhouse cover Won't Forget These Days initiated by Premiere .

Benaissa as a member of the jury for the show Dein Song (2008)

From October 20 to November 14, 2008, Benaissa was a member of the jury for the songwriting competition Dein Song at KiKA .

She put the work on her second solo album in early summer 2008 on hold in favor of the recordings of the fifth No Angels album Welcome to the Dance . She previously published demo versions of her new songs on her Myspace profile.

Benaissa worked with the freelance writer Tinka Dippel on an autobiography that was published on September 27, 2010. It has also been published as an audio book.

In August 2011 she received the award for showing solidarity at the Reminders Day Award ceremony . That evening she made her musical stage comeback with two cover songs by Rio Reiser . Actually, after leaving the No Angels, she announced that she wanted to record an album with cover versions of Rio Reiser, which she did not subsequently realize. Instead, Benaissa withdrew from the public eye to catch up on her high school diploma .

Since then, she has only performed occasionally live. In 2013 she gave a live gig in aid of the Charité festival Actions No Words . In 2015 she performed for a good cause at the “Sonnenhof” children's hospice in Berlin.

Legal proceedings

Late in the evening of April 11, 2009, Benaissa was arrested in Frankfurt am Main on suspicion of dangerous bodily harm . She was charged with having unprotected sex with several people without informing them of her HIV infection. The allegations related to a period from 2000 to 2004 while Benaissa is said to have known of her infection since 1999 at the latest. On April 21, 2009 she was granted exemption from detention at the request of the Darmstadt public prosecutor . At the beginning of July 2009, the Darmstadt public prosecutor's office overturned the arrest warrant against Benaissa because she had fulfilled her conditions.

The Darmstadt public prosecutor's office was criticized for its behavior during the investigation. She was accused of having published details from an ongoing investigation and provided too much information about health aspects of Benaissa - including making the HIV status public without respecting her privacy or the presumption of innocence .

The Darmstadt public prosecutor brought charges in February 2010 on suspicion of having infected a partner with the HIV virus through unprotected sex and of having unprotected sexual intercourse with three other partners who were unaware of their HIV infection in four cases against Benaissa for completed dangerous physical harm and attempted dangerous physical harm in four cases. In August 2010, the Darmstadt District Court sentenced her to a two-year suspended prison sentence and 300 hours of work in an AIDS facility.

Today's life

In 2010, Benaissa reported that she was leading a largely normal life despite the infection. In 2015, she reported to BUNTE that she was doing her Abitur. She is currently training as an event manager. In October 2019 the German a cappella band medlz announced that Benaissa will be part of the ensemble from April 2020.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE
2006 Step by step DE71 (1 week)
DE
First published: February 24, 2006

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE
2005 It's love
single track
DE64 (3 weeks)
DE
First published: September 12, 2005
2006 I have you
step by step
DE36 (4 weeks)
DE
First published: February 10, 2006

more publishments

  • 2001: Love and Mind ( Sisters Keepers )
  • 2004: Gotta Find Somebody (One in a Thousand)
  • 2005: Know Your Emotion ("Emotion" magazine song)
  • 2006: Won't Forget These Days (Music Team Germany)
  • 2007: Dirty Dancing ( DJ Sakin & Friends)
  • 2007: Unlock My Chains (Superlounger)
  • 2008: My year ( Fler )
  • 2008: Schnüffelma (Skit Sketch)
  • 2009: We Are No More Children ( Samy Deluxe )

Guest appearances

  • 2004: A Beautiful Day ( Moses Pelham )
  • 2007: Dear Christin ( Manuellsen )
  • 2012: Maisha (Thea Queen of Light)
  • 2012: Alone (Thea Queen of Light)
  • 2012: Honey and Blood (Thea Queen of Light)

Demo songs

  • 2008: everything will be okay
  • 2008: stay strong
  • 2008: Bittersweet
  • 2008: family
  • 2008: hands up
  • 2008: I'll give it to you
  • 2008: let go
  • 2008: never again
  • 2008: too late

Music videos

  • 2001: Love and Mind ( Sisters Keepers )
  • 2002: Play with Bootsy (guest appearance on Bootsy Collins video)
  • 2005: it's love
  • 2006: I have you
  • 2006: Won't Forget These Days (Music Team Germany)
  • 2008: Schnüffelma (Skit Sketch)

Tours

As a support act

Awards

  • 2005: 1Live Krone : Best Artist of the Year (nomination)
  • 2010: Scene Award: Personality of the Year
  • 2011: Reminders Day Award : Demonstration of solidarity

literature

Web links

Commons : Nadja Benaissa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. Nadja: "I messed up a lot" . laut.de. November 8, 2001. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  2. a b Nadja Benaissa regrets "wrong handling" of her HIV infection. August 16, 2010, accessed March 15, 2020 .
  3. Gisela Friedrichsen: Trial of No Angels singer: "I was just terrified" . In: SPIEGEL ONLINE . August 16, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  4. Just4Fun magazine: Nadja Benaissa supports Simply Red ( Memento from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. hr-online.de: Bundesvision Song Contest - Fourth place for Nadja Benaissa ( Memento from March 5, 2006 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. Nadja Benaissa publishes autobiography ( memento from September 18, 2010 in the web archive archive.today ) dnews.de from September 17, 2010
  7. New album: Nadja Benaissa sings Rio Reiser songs
  8. Nadja Benaissa Rare interview about her new life!
  9. Nobody asked about condoms. August 17, 2010, accessed March 15, 2020 .
  10. Nadja Benaissa - No Angels singer released from custody , Spiegel Online, April 21, 2009
  11. Astrid Bischof: Justice: Arrest warrant canceled: Welcome - the new life of Nadja Benaissa . In: sueddeutsche.de , May 17, 2010. Accessed February 27, 2016. 
  12. So most recently in SPIEGEL, issue 34/2010 of 23 August 2010.
  13. ^ Indictment in the case of Nadja B. Press release from the Darmstadt public prosecutor's office on February 12, 2010.
  14. Nadja Benaissa: Tears at the verdict in WZ-newsline from August 26, 2010, accessed on August 27, 2010
  15. Nadja Benaissa about her HIV infection on YouTube
  16. http://www.bunte.de/entertainment/musik/deutsche-bands/nadja-benaissa-seltenes-interview-ueber-ihr-neues-leben-142401.html
  17. a b chart discography DE
  18. Won: Scene award for Nadja and "One Life" . noangels-inside.de. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  19. Ex- "No Angel" completely moved - Nadja Benaissa honored at AIDS gala . bild.de. August 28, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.