Michael von der Heide

Biography

Michael Von der Heide is a Swiss singer. He was born to a German father and a Swiss mother. At the age of 16 he took singing lessons with the opera singer Ginette Girardier and discovered his talent for chansons.  In 1990 he took part in the Showszene Schweiz competition for young talents. Five years later he won the Swiss KleinKunstPreis and in 1996 he acted in the play Lina Böglis Reise.

In the same year he released his first album entitled “Michael von der Heide”, which sold over 15,000 copies. 

In 1998 he released his second album, “30° -” The first single, “Jeudi amour”, became a big hit and received the Silver Hare award. The album received critical acclaim and sold over 24,000 copies.

In 1999 he took part in the German national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Bye Bye Bar”. The song was written by Swiss film director Micha Lewinsky and composed by Thomas Fessler. Von der Heide initiated the live project “Divamix” with Maja Brunner and Christina Jaccard.

In 2000 he received the German cabaret prize. He released his third album, “Tourist” and began collaborating with Annette Humpe, with whom he wrote two songs. Züri West frontman Kuno Lauener adapted the killer ballad “Where the Wild Roses Grow” into Swiss German and sang it in a duet with him. The single was named “Cover Version of the Year” by DRS3. The album “Tourist” reached number 5 in the Swiss charts and sold over 24,000 copies.

He spent 2001 in Paris working with Doriand, Olivier Libaux (Nouvelle Vague/Carla Bruni). On the album “L’heröine au bain” he sang in a duet with Helena Noguerra. With the live project “Hildegard – songs von und für Hildegard Knef ” von der Heide went on tour with the guitarist Adrian Stern and the pianist Erich Strebel. The CD “Hildegard” was then recorded in Cologne. In 2002 he released the album “Fresh”. He sang the classic Kriminaltango in a duet with Nina Hagen, and the German pop duo 2raumwohnung contributed the ballad “Die Liebenden”. A tour of Germany and Switzerland followed.

2003 saw the release of the album “Helvetia” with an extensive tour that culminated at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 2005 he released “2pièces”. The double album was a collection of previous hits and featured new titles like “In den Bergen”, written and produced by Annette Humpe. A new version of his song “Success’ was created in collaboration with rapper Baze.

In 2007, von der Heide wrote the lyrics to the song “Bleib doch, bis es schneit” for the album “36 Grad” by the German electro duo 2raumwohnung. He also sang in the choir on the song. In 2008 he released an album in Germany for the first time: “Freiesicht” was produced by the producers of Ich + Ich and was sung entirely in Standard German. Annette Humpe could also be heard on this album, she sings along with the track Leise.

In May 2010, von der Heide represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. With the song Il pleut de l’or he competed but failed to reach the final. The single reached number 69 in the Swiss charts. Appearances in Germany, Portugal, Norway, Romania and Latvia followed. As a self-confessed homosexual, von der Heide successfully defended himself in court against the derogatory reporting in the Blick newspaper on the Eurovision defeat.

In autumn 2010, von der Heide made his debut with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra and Sina. Rainer Held stood at the conductor’s desk. In November 2010, Meine faire Dame premiered in Basel; von der Heide performed alongside the Norwegian soprano Tora Augestad in the premiere of Christoph Marthaler’s production. In June 2011, he sang the track Bleu Infini on DJ Antoine’s 2011 album, which reached number one in the Swiss charts.

In September 2011 he released the album “Lido”. It debuted at number 25 on the charts and the singer went on tour (Switzerland, France, Ukraine). In October he was on stage in the world premiere of “Hush no more”, a production by Corinna von Rad at the Theater Basel. Von der Heide has released 14 albums and 32 singles to date.