Matthias Reim

Reim was born on 26 November 1957 in Korbach and grew up in Homberg. His father was the director of the gymnasium in Homberg. After receiving his Abitur, he began his undergraduate studies in the German and English languages as well as Germanistic and Anglistic literatures in Göttingen. This took 18 terms – this is above average, as he spent time predominantly in the music studio and not in the lecture-room. == Career ==

1980–1989: Fallen Dice and Fair Fax Reim's career began as a songwriter, writing for Bernhard Brink, Roberto Blanco and Tina York. He played in a rock band called Fallen Dice with Pete Goldenberg and Norbert Preis. Their debut album, Pasch 1, was released in 1981. He spent a brief time as lead singer of the band Aqua before their dissolution in 1984. In 1986, Reim formed the synthpop duo Fair Fax with Jörg Wiesner. They released one single, "Satellite Dream", through Hansa Records. 1990–1999: Solo career Reim's debut single "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" ("Damn, I love you") topped the German Singles Chart for sixteen consecutive weeks in 1990. It also reached no. 1 in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. His debut album, Reim, was released through Polydor on 15 June 1990. He released a further nine albums through Polydor, including 1994's Zauberland which was re-recorded in English the following year. In 1991, he won a World Music Award for Best-Selling German Recording Artist. 2000–2015: The Electrola years Reim began to see increased commercial success again in the 2000s after signing with Electrola. In September 2004, Reim released the single "Vergiß Es (Forget It)" with Bonnie Tyler. It featured on Reim's compilation album, Déjà Vu, and reached no. 64 on the German Singles Chart. They recorded a second duet on Reim's thirteenth album, Sieben Leben (2010). In 2011, Reim released a Christmas album titled Die große Weihnachtsparty, which includes a German cover of "Last Christmas" by Wham!. In 2013, Reim topped the German Albums Chart for a second time with Unendlich. 2016–present: Recent work Reim moved to RCA Records in 2016 for the release of his sixteenth album, Phoenix, which peaked at no. 2 in Germany. His subsequent albums Meteor (2018), MR20 (2019) and Matthias (2022) all peaked within the top 3. In 2022, Reim wrote the song "Bastian [Blaulicht in der Nacht]" in memory of his son Bastian, who died in October 2022 at the age of 35. Reim also sang the song "Vater und Sohn" in duet with his son Julian (born 1996), a German adaptation of Cat Stevens' song Father and Son. == Personal life ==

Reim has been married four times and has seven children from six different mothers. In 1973, at the age of 15-16, he fathered a daughter, Claudia, of whose existence he only learned in 2015. They had a son, Julian, born in 1996, who became a Schlager singer. After the end of his third marriage, he and Christin Stark lived together in Bodman-Ludwigshafen, following their marriage, they moved to Stockach. ==Discography==