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| Jennifer Rush | |
|---|---|
 Rush performing in 1988. |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Heidi Stern |
| Born | September 28, 1960 |
| Origin | Queens, New York, United States |
| Genres | Pop, Rock, Soft Rock, AOR |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Sony Records, CBS, Columbia |
| Website | Official website |
Jennifer Rush (born September 28, 1960) is an American/German-based pop/rock singer, best known for the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which she co-wrote and which went on to be covered by Laura Branigan and Celine Dion.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Born Heidi Stern, in Queens, New York, she spent her childhood in both New York and the State of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It was in Flensburg, Germany, that she first discovered her passion for music. She recorded her first album Heidi Stern in 1979, but it did not get much attention. Trying to establish her career as a singer, in 1982, she moved to Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, with her father Maurice Stern, an opera singer. Over the next several years she scored hits around Europe with songs "25 Lovers", "Flames of Paradise", "Ring of Ice", "Destiny", "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love", "I Come Undone" and "Madonna's Eyes".
Jennifer's mother Barbara was a pianist, and her brothers are musicians Bobby Stern and Stephen Stern. In 2010, Jennifer revealed that she adopted her artist name "Jennifer" upon the insistence of her record company, CBS, who felt Heidi did not sound 'international' enough.
Her single "The Power Of Love" was the biggest selling single of 1985 in the United Kingdom, (as well as becoming a significant hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden) and was listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as "the best-selling single by a female solo artist in the history of the British music industry". It held that status until 1992, when it was outsold by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". "The Power of Love" topped the charts for more than eight weeks in Australia, South Africa and numerous European countries. Number one in several countries, Rush's version reached only number 57 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. After several cover versions by other artists, the Celine Dion version made a U.S. chart impact in 1994.
Rush remained successful in Europe and notably in Germany where her next two albums reached number 1 for 14 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. In the UK however, her chart career saw only a few sporadic bursts of success, but did manage three top 50 albums. It was Rush's 1987 album Heart Over Mind, featuring compositions by Desmond Child and Michael Bolton and guitar work from Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), that finally brought her Top 40 success in her home country, with the Elton John duet "Flames of Paradise". She also recorded duets with Michael Bolton, Plácido Domingo and Brian May.
While she continued to achieve platinum and multi-platinum sales of albums and singles in both English and Spanish, recognition eluded her in her home country. Rush built on her success through the 1990s in Europe (again, especially in Germany), releasing four albums, the last being 1998's Classics (along with new songs, re-recording her biggest hits with the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra). After that she took some time off in New York, dedicating time to her daughter. A series of greatest hits compilation albums followed in the new millennium.
She released a boxed set Stronghold - The Collector's Hit Box in August 2007. This compilation included all Rush singles from 1982 to 1991 (with her first record company), and in their "extended versions" as available. It also included all the B-sides and other rare or unreleased tracks (among them four James Bond theme songs, recorded live in 1984 and only released in a very limited edition by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra).
In 2006 she moved to London with her daughter. On March 6, 2009 Rush announced on her official website that she had signed a worldwide recording contract with Sony Music / Ariola. This meant a return to the recording label where she made her international breakthrough in the 1980s and released the first five studio albums of her career. Now Is the Hour, produced by Berlin-based producer team Valicon, was released on March 5, 2010 in Germany,[1] and on March 8, 2010 in the UK.[2] It was her first album with completely new material in over thirteen years.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- 1982 "Tonight" (as Heidi Stern)
- 1983 "Into My Dreams" (France #7)
- 1983 "Come Give Me Your Hand / Witch Queen Of New Orleans"
- 1983 "Witch Queen Of New Orleans / Come Give Me Your Hand" (Sweden only, made in Netherlands)
- 1984 "25 Lovers" (France #9, West Germany #25)
- 1984 "Ring of Ice" (West Germany #22)
- 1985 "The Power of Love" (#1 in Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, UK; Denmark #9, France #25, Netherlands #4, Spain #2, Sweden #3, Switzerland #3, West Germany #9, US #57)
- 1985 "Si tu eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer" ("The Power of Love" Spanish version)
- 1985 "Ring of Ice" (Re-issue, UK #14, South Africa #1)
- 1986 "Madonna's Eyes" (France #5, UK #84, South Africa #12)
- 1985 "Destiny" ( West Germany #4, UK #96, Austria #5, Switzerland #5, Netherlands #23)
- 1986 "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love" (West Germany #24, Austria #15, Denmark #4)
- 1986 "No me canso de pensar en ti" ("If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love" Spanish version)
- 1986 "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love / Madonna's Eyes"(Sweden only, made in Netherlands)
- 1986 "The Power of Love (Remix)" (UK #55)
- 1987 "I Come Undone" (Switzerland #9, South Africa #10, West Germany #11, Austria #28, UK #94)
- 1987 "Flames of Paradise" (Duet with Elton John) (UK #59, US #36, Canada #17, West Germany #8, Switzerland #7, New Zealand #14)
- 1987 "Heart Over Mind" (France #9, Austria #24, West Germany #25, Switzerland #29)
- 1988 "Another Way"
- 1988 "You're My One and Only" (France #3, West Germany #27, Switzerland #21, UK #90)
- 1988 "Viva de mi vida" ("You're My One and Only" Spanish version)
- 1989 "Keep All the Fires Burning Bright"
- 1989 "Solitaria mujer" ("Keep All the Fires Burning Bright" Spanish version)
- 1989 "Love Get Ready"
- 1989 "Till I Loved You" (Duet with Placido Domingo) (UK #24)
- 1989/1990 "Higher Ground" (Austria #30, Germany #54, UK #98)
- 1990 "Wings of Desire"
- 1990 "We Are the Strong"
- 1991 "Ave Maria (Survivors of a Different Kind)"
- 1992 "Never Say Never" (Germany #46)
- 1993 "Vision of You" (Germany #56)
- 1993 "Vision de Ti" ("Vision Of You" Spanish version)
- 1993 "A Broken Heart" (Germany #90)
- 1995 "Tears in the Rain" (Switzerland #26, Germany #45)
- 1995 "Out of My Hands"
- 1995 "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Featuring Brian May – promomotional release only)
- 1995 "Das Farbenspiel des Winds" (Pocahontas' "The Colours of the Wind") (Germany #80)
- 1997 "Credo" (Austria #32, Germany #75)
- 1997 "Sweet Thing"
- 1997 "Piano in the Dark" (promo release only)
- 1998 "The End of a Journey"
- 1999 "Ring of Ice" ("Classics" version – promo release only)
- 2010 "Before the Dawn" (download only, no extra tracks)
- 2010 "Echoes Love" (download only, with one extra remix)
[edit] Albums
[7][8] "—" denotes releases that did not chart or that no info is known, or that the album was not released on that market.
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [3] |
US | Germany | Norway | Sweden | Switzerland | Austria | South Africa | Greece | ||
| 1979 | Heidi Stern | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1984 | Jennifer Rush | 7 | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – |
| 1985 | Movin' | 32 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | – |
| 1987 | Heart Over Mind | 48 | 118 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 2 | – |
| 1988 | Passion | – | – | 3 | – | 10 | 4 | 24 | – | – |
| 1989 | Wings of Desire | – | – | 12 | – | 18 | 13 | – | – | – |
| 1991 | The Power of Jennifer Rush | – | – | 40 | – | – | 34 | 37 | – | – |
| 1992 | Jennifer Rush | – | – | 35 | – | – | 38 | – | – | – |
| 1995 | Out of My Hands | – | – | 15 | – | – | 28 | 30 | – | – |
| 1997 | Credo | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | 37 | – | – |
| 1998 | Classics | – | – | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2007 | Stronghold - The Collector's Hit Box | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2010 | Now Is the Hour | – | – | 21 | – | – | 61 | 51 | – | 6 |
[edit] DVDs
- The Power of Love – The Complete Video Collection (2004)
