Jennifer Rush

Jennifer Rush
Rush performing in 1988.
Background information
Birth name	Heidi Stern
Born	September 28, 1960 (1960-09-28) (age 49)
Origin	Queens, New York, United States
Genres	Pop, Rock, Soft Rock, AOR
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1979 - present
Labels	CBS, Columbia
Website	Official website

Jennifer Rush is an American German-based Pop/Rock singer, best known for the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which went on to be covered by Celine Dion and Laura Branigan (Rush also co-wrote "The Power of Love").

Career

Born Heidi Stern, September 28, 1960, in Queens, New York, she spent her childhood in both New York and Bavaria. It was in Germany where she first discovered her passion for music. She recorded her first album Heidi Stern in 1979, but it did not get much attention. In 1982, she moved back to Wiesbaden, Germany, with her father, Maurice Stern, an opera singer, trying to establish a career as a singer. Over the next several years she scored hits around Europe with the songs like "25 Lovers", "Flames of Paradise", "Ring of Ice", "Destiny", "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love", "I Come Undone" and "Madonna's Eyes".

Her single "The Power Of Love" was the biggest hit of 1985 in the United Kingdom, (as well as becoming a massive hit across Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Canada, Norway and South Africa) 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 8 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, Celine Dion made a U.S. chart topper with the same song in 1994.

Following this, she remained successful in Europe and notably so in Germany where her next two albums reached No.1 for 14 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. In the UK however, her chart career saw only a few sporadic bursts of success following her No.1 hit.

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 scored European hits with duets with Michael Bolton and Plácido Domingo.

While her career continued to result in Platinum and multi-Platinum sales of her albums and singles in both English and Spanish, she was ignored by the masses in her home country, initially because her record label in the U.S. did not understand how to best market her music. A secondary dilemma was her massively powerful voice combined with the bombastic music production of her songs which was seemingly too 'European' for the U.S. listener.

Rush continued her success through the 1990s in Europe (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 City, dedicating her time to her daughter. A series of "best of" collections followed in the new millennium.

She surprised her fans with a new boxed set— Stronghold - The Collector's Hit Box—in August 2007. This compilation includes all Jennifer Rush singles from 1982 to 1991 (with her first record company), and in their "extended versions" where they exist. Furthermore it includes all B-sides and other rare or unreleased tracks (among them four James Bond theme songs with the RIAS orchestra in Berlin—recorded in 1984). Another highlight of the new compilation is the DJ Dave Kurtis 2007 remix of "I Come Undone".

In 2006 both she and her daughter moved to London in the UK. On March 6th 2009 Jennifer Rush has announced on her official website that she signed a worldwide recording contract with Sony Music / Ariola. This means her return to the record label where she made her international breakthrough in the 80s and released the first five studio albums of her career. The new studio album Now Is the Hour, produced by Berlin-based producer team Valicon, is going to be released in early 2010. It will be her first album with completely new material in over 12 years.

Discography

Singles

^[1][2][3][4]

• 1982 "Tonight" (as Heidi Stern)
• 1983 "Into My Dreams" (France #7)
• 1983 "Come Give Me Your Hand"
• 1984 "25 Lovers" (France #9, West Germany #25)
• 1985 "The Power of Love" (UK #1, Austria #1, Norway #1, Ireland #1, Australia #1, Canada #1, South Africa #1, Sweden #3, Switzerland #3, Holland #4, West Germany #9, France #32, US #57)
• 1985 "Si tu eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer" ("The Power of Love" Spanish version)
• 1985 "Ring of Ice" (UK #14, South Africa #1, West Germany #22)
• 1986 "Madonna's Eyes" (France #5, UK #84, South Africa #12)
• 1985/1986 "Destiny" ( West Germany #4, UK #96, Austria #5, Switzerland #5, Holland #23)
• 1986 "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love" (West Germany #24, Austria #15)
• 1986 "No me canso de pensar en ti" ("If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love" Spanish version)
• 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, West Germany #8, Switzerland #7)
• 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 - promo 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)

Albums

^[5][6] "—" denotes releases that did not chart

DVDs

• The Power of Love - The Complete Video Collection (2004)

References

External links

• Jennifer Rush's Official Website
• Official Fan Community
• Inofficial Discography