Unholy

Unholy
Unheilig on Our Song for Denmark in March 2014.
General information
Genre (s)	Pop , electro rock , new German hardness
founding	1999
Website	www.unheilig.com
Founding members
Singing , programming	The Earl
singing	Grant Stevens (until 2002)
Vocals , guitar	Jose Alvarez-Brill (until 2002)
Current occupation
Programming, keyboard	Henning Verlage (since 2003)
guitar	Christoph Termühlen (Licky) (since 2002)
Drums	Martin Potthoff (Potti) (since 2008)
former members
singing	Grant Stevens (until 2002)
Vocals, guitar	Jose Alvarez-Brill (until 2002)
Singing, programming	The Graf (until 2016)

Unheilig is a German music group from Aachen , which originally developed around the singer and songwriter Der Graf .

Band history

The count gives autographs after a concert

1999 to 2005

The count founded Unheilig in 1999 together with Grant Stevens and Jose Alvarez-Brill . A year later, the single Sage Ja! which was followed in February 2001 by the debut album Phosphor with a musical mixture of electronics and rock .

In 2001 the band performed at several large festivals and open-air concerts such as the Zillo Open Air , the Wave-Gotik-Treffen , the Doomsday Festival and the Woodstage Summer Open Air . On October 28, 2002, the album Frohes Fest was released , on which classic German Christmas carols are interpreted.

At the end of 2002 Der Graf separated from the other band members, the producer and the record company due to differences; he decided to continue as a solo artist. Initially, Der Graf produced the music of Unheilig as a singer , lyricist and producer in one person. He only used guest musicians for live performances. The third studio album The Second Commandment was released on April 7, 2003. Fans could vote on the Internet about which song from the album should be released and produced in an EP version. The result was Guardian Angel with four previously unpublished songs.

Zelluloid , Unheilig's fourth album, was released at the end of February 2004. A tour of Germany with the band Terminal Choice followed. AnotherEPwas published with Freiheit in October 2004 after a vote.

The live double album Gastspiel was released on January 31, 2005 from recordings of concerts . In the same year a DVD with concert recordings, music videos and interviews was released.

2006 to 2008

On January 20, 2006, the fifth studio album by Unheilig was released with Modern Times . The concept of the song lyrics are dreams and their realization. As with the previous albums - as a result of a survey in June 2006 - the EP Astronaut was released. The previously unknown song Der Himmel über mir was also released on the EP , in which Der Graf expresses his religiosity and simultaneous rejection of the church and names the reasons for his “unholyness”.

Unheilig toured with Project Pitchfork from late September to mid-October 2006 . On October 13, 2006 the live double CD Golden Times was released in a limited edition of 3,000 copies . The core of this album is a concert from the spring of 2006. Unheilig used the low concert presence in 2007 to record the album Puppenspiel . On August 4th 2007 the band played at the Wacken Open Air .

In 2008 a 30-minute documentary about the band was released under the title Unheilig - A Life for Music , which was first broadcast on DMAX on November 30, 2008 .

2010 to 2011 - Great freedom

On February 19, 2010 the new album Große Freiheit was released . It contains the first single Born to Live . The album reached number 1 on the German sales charts and became the project's biggest success to date. It has sold more than 2 million times so far. In previous years, Unheilig was mainly known in the black scene , but the album has now reached a wider audience and buyers. The count himself still saw himself as part of the black scene, but stated that his music was also intended for people outside the scene.

The high media presence and the trendy character of many of the new songs also caused criticism from long-time fans. There is often talk of “pop art” or “mass compatibility”. Criticism in this direction came from well-known musicians such as Alexander Wesselsky ( Eisbrecher ) or Steve Naghavi ( And One ).

“It's strange, for years people have taught me how important my music is to them, and then I change my appearance a little, leave off the black nail polish and those white vampire contact lenses, and suddenly my music doesn't count anymore. Suddenly they say: He's now singing commercial ballads. He's not one of us anymore. I still don't understand that today. If you no longer have the acceptance of the people you have known for so long, then it hurts. "

- The Count : Interview with the star

On October 1, 2010, Unheilig won the Bundesvision Song Contest 2010 with the song Under Your Flag . In the same year Unheilig won the Bambi Music Prize in the Pop National category .

The album was awarded the 2011 Echo as Album of the Year . In addition, Unheilig received the award in the categories Rock / Alternative National Group and Producer / Team of the Year .

In the hundredth edition of the Ultimate Chartshow under the motto Germany Votes No. 1 (first broadcast on December 9, 2011), the title Born to Live came in second place.

2012 to 2013 - City Lights

On March 16, 2012, the band released the album Lights of the City . The album landed at number one on the album charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Already on February 14, 2012, the single Just like you were released from the album in advance. It made it to number 2 on the German single charts. On March 30, 2012, they released the second single, Lights of the City, from the album of the same name . With this they reached number 31 in the German single charts. On June 30, 2012 the lights of the city open air tour started in Meppen. On September 21, 2012, the single Sonne was released with Schiller . This was followed by the single release of the song How we were , which Unheilig had recorded together with Andreas Bourani .

In November 2012 a winter edition of the album was released, from which the single Stark , which was newly recorded for the album, was released as a single. City Lights then returned to the top of the album charts for a week .

In 2013 Unheilig received the Golden Camera 2013 in the category Best Music National . The laudator was Helene Fischer , who sang a duet with the Count on the Helene Fischer Show .

2014 to 2016

The Count with Barbara Schöneberger at Our Song for Denmark 2014

On March 13, 2014, Unheilig took part in the preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest as if it were the first time and we are all like one and came second behind Elaiza with Is It Right . After leaving, Unheilig went on tour with a best-of album .

On October 5, 2014, Der Graf announced in an open letter to the fans that after the release of the album Gipfelstürmer , which was announced for December 2014, and the subsequent tour, the Unheilig project would be ended. In the run-up to the single release of Zeit zu geht's announced for October 31st, a corresponding video appeared on YouTube with film and image material from filming music videos, concerts, press recordings, etc. as a compilation.

On November 29, 2014, the album's world premiere took place in the form of a concert in Zell am See, where the filming of As if it's the first time and the music videos of Gipfelstürmer took place. The album has been available in stores since December 12, 2014. On June 19, 2015, the album Gipfelstürmer Live was released , which documented the time to go tour. The live album MTV Unplugged: Unter Dampf - Ohne Strom was released on December 11, 2015 . An open air tour entitled One last time followed between May and September 2016 , which ended on September 10 at the Rheinenergiestadion in Cologne .

After the previous studio album Gipfelstürmer had already been announced as a farewell album , before the end of the one last time tour in August 2016, another studio album, called the "final album", was announced with the release on November 4, 2016 under the title Von Mensch zu Man .

Since 2016 - Unholy without Der Graf

With Pures Gold - Best of Vol. 2 , another best-of album was released on October 6, 2017, and the successor to Alles hat seine Zeit - Best of Unheilig 1999-2014 . In the fall of 2017, Unheilig announced that they would go on tour with The Dark Tenor instead of the Count . Songs from both bands will be performed together.

style

Unheilig is stylistically active in numerous genres. Originally the group was assigned to the New German Hardship - a designation which the Count himself described as "too martial". Since the breakthrough with Große Freiheit , Unheilig has been attested increasingly musically and lyrically a closeness to the Schlager . In the 2015 published Unplugged album among others, the pop singer is Helene Fischer to hear as a guest, and for the 2016 released album infinity of Bernhard Brink of Graf wrote two pieces, including Single From here to infinity .

If the first album Phosphor still contains German and English texts, the songs on all subsequent albums are entirely in German.

Discography

→ Main articles : Unheilig / Discography  and List of Unheilig songs

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
2001	Phosphorus Bloodline	-	-	-	First published: March 19, 2001
2003	The 2nd Commandment Four.Rock	-	-	-	First published: April 7, 2003
2004	Celluloid Four.Rock	-	-	-	First published: February 16, 2004
2006	Modern times Four.Rock	DE76 (1 week) DE	-	-	First published: January 20, 2006
2008	Puppet show Four.Rock	DE13 gold (2 weeks)DE	-	-	First published: February 22nd, 2008 Sales: + 100,000
2010	Great freedom Vertigo	DE1 × 9 Nine-fold platinum (157 weeks)DE	AT1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (117 weeks)AT	CH3 × 2 Double platinum (109 weeks)CH	First published: February 19, 2010 Sales: +2,000,000
2012	Lights of the city of Vertigo	DE1 × 9 Ninefold gold (93 weeks)DE	AT1 × 2 Double platinum (55 weeks)AT	CH1 × 2 Double platinum (53 weeks)CH	First published: March 16, 2012 Sales: + 970,000
2014	Summiteer Vertigo	DE1 × 5 Quintuple gold (56 weeks)DE	AT2 platinum (43 weeks)AT	CH3 (41 weeks) CH	First published: December 12, 2014 Sales: + 515,000
2016	Person to person vertigo	DE1 platinum (22 weeks)DE	AT4 (19 weeks) AT	CH3 (20 weeks) CH	First published: November 4th, 2016 Sales: + 200,000

Awards

Bambi

• 2010: in the Pop National category

Bundesvision Song Contest

• 2010: Winner (Under Your Flag)

Comet

• 2011: in the Best Song category (Born to Live)

German music author award

• 2011: in the most successful work category

The golden camera

• 2013: in the category Best Music National

DIVA Award

• 2011: in the category Music Artist of the Year 2010
• 2011: in the category The German Music Prize

ECHO Pop

• 2011: in the Best Album category (Große Freiheit)
• 2011: in the category Best Rock / Alternative National Group
• 2013: in the category Best Rock / Alternative National Group
• 2013: in the category most successful national act abroad
• 2015: in the category Best Rock / Alternative National Group

Radio Rainbow Award

• 2011: in the Band National category

Radio Prize Seven

• 2012: in the Live Act National category

Swiss Music Award

• 2011: in the Best Breaking Act International category

Video champion

• 2012: in the Music Award category

literature

• Unholy: Unholy. Lot of freedom. The songbook. Bosworth Musikverlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86543-595-8 .
• Claus Müller (Ed.), Enrico Ahlig: Unheilig. Orcus. [ The great Orkus Unheilig book ]. Zoomia Media Group, Glashütten (Taunus) 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-036880-6 .
• Corinna Siebert: Unholy. The Count - Born to Sing. The unofficial biography. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2011, ISBN 978-3-86852-393-5 .
• Michael Fuchs-Gamböck , Thorsten Schatz : Unheilig. The count and his world. Bastei Lübbe Verlag, Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-404-60664-1 .
• Unholy: Unholy. Lights of the city. The songbook. Bosworth Musikverlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86543-714-3 .
• Unholy: When music became my language. The official autobiography. 2nd Edition. Riva, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-86883-210-5 .
• Thomas Groß: The lights are still on in the Gespensterstadl . In: Die Zeit , No. 13/2012 (portrait).

Web links

Commons : Unheilig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Unheilig website
• Unholy at laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} biography. ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: unheilig.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010. 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Sascha Blach: Unholy. Good mood Gothic? In: Zillo , No. 6/2010, p. 40 f. (Interview with the count).
3. ↑ ^{a b} The fisherman of men. In: Stern , issue 43/2010, October 21, 2010, p. 180.
4. ↑ Esther Mai: And One do not appear with Unheilig. rp-online.de, July 27, 2011.
5. ↑ 2010 winners on Bambi.de
6. ↑ Search ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on echopop.de. Artist Unheilig, year 2011; Retrieved March 8, 2013. 
7. ↑ Preliminary decision for the ESC 2014
8. ↑ The Count: Open Letter from the Count. (No longer available online.) In: Unheilig.com. October 5, 2014, archived from the original on October 20, 2014 ; Retrieved October 5, 2014 . 
9. ↑ One last time - The last concerts in 2016. (No longer available online.) In: Unheilig.com. October 19, 2015, archived from the original on November 4, 2016 ; accessed on November 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ The Count: Open Letter of the Count. (No longer available online.) In: Unheilig.com. August 2, 2016, archived from the original on October 8, 2017 ; accessed on April 15, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ Unheilig & The Dark Tenor on a journey through time. (No longer available online.) September 29, 2017, archived from the original on October 8, 2017 ; accessed on October 7, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ Unheilig - Gothic-Graf thinks "Kitsch is good". ( Memento of the original from July 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. relevant.at, April 19, 2010. 
13. ↑ Black hit for the masses. In: derwesten.de. January 13, 2011, accessed November 2, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Thomas Groß: The lights are still on in the Gespensterstadl . In: Die Zeit , No. 13/2012
15. ↑ The Count sings with Helene Fischer. In: n-tv.de. December 11, 2015, accessed November 2, 2016 . 
16. ↑ Thomas Blaumeiser: Bernhard Brink - New album with Unheilig songs. In: swr.de. June 3, 2016, accessed November 2, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Unheilig - The Language of Music. ( Memento of October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) unheilig.com, 2014, accessed on May 22, 2019.