2012-2015: Wolkenfrei In the summer of 2012, then-singer of
Wolkenfrei, Heike Wanner, left the band for health-reasons. While attending a concert of her father's band Musik-Express at the Sonnenhof in
Aspach, Mai was enlisted as a singer by Wolkenfrei member Marc Fischer. On 19 July 2013, their début single "Jeans, T-Shirts, und Freiheit" ("Jeans, T-Shirts, and Freedom") was released. It was followed by their début studio album
Endlos verliebt ("Endlessly in Love") in February 2014, which charted in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In January 2015, it was announced that Mai was the new face of the campaign Mein Herz schlägt Schlager. She promoted it through an ad as well as with the song "Mein Herz schlägt Schlager", which was released on a
sampler album belonging to the project. In April 2015, Marc Fischer and Stefan Kinski announced that they were leaving Wolkenfrei, leading to the project being represented only by Mai (mostly as "Wolkenfrei-Star Vanessa Mai"). "Wolke 7", the first single from Wolkenfrei's second studio album, was released on 22 May. The album, titled
Wachgeküsst, was released on 10 July. A day before, Deutsches Musik Fernsehen had dedicated a 65-minute television special to Mai and to the album. Due to Mai's extensive television presence, including an appearance on
Florian Silbereisen's
ARD show
Die Besten im Sommer with the song "Wolke 7", the album reached place 7 of the
German albums chart and also charted in Austria and Switzerland. The single "Wolke 7" reached place 54 in Germany and 71 in Austria. On 18 September, "Wachgeküsst", the album's title track, was released as its second single. On 9 October, Mai's first live album (still as Wolkenfrei),
Wachgeküsst (Live), was released. The last single "In all deinen Farben" ("In all your Colors") was released on December 11, followed a week later by a non-album Christmas single titled "Ein Engel in der Weihnachtszeit" ("An Angel in Christmas Time").
2016-present: Abandonment of the Wolkenfrei-name and solo-career From January to May 2016, Mai was a judge on the
thirteenth season of
Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of
Pop Idol and
American Idol. In February, she announced her decision to not use the stage name Wolkenfrei anymore. It preceded her first studio album under the name Vanessa Mai and third studio album overall,
Für Dich ("For You"), which was released on 15 April. The single as well as the album were produced by her
Deutschland sucht den Superstar colleague
Dieter Bohlen. From September to November, Mai went on
her first solo tour, which visited Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland for 26 dates. A live album titled
Für Dich - Live aus Berlin, recorded at the
Tempodrom in Berlin, was released on 6 January 2017. From March to May, she took part in the
tenth season of ''
Let's Dance, the German version of Strictly Come Dancing'', and placed second. On 3 April 2017, Mai announced her second solo studio album and fourth overall with the single "Und wenn ich träum" (And when I dream"). On 18 July 2017, she released a special acoustic version of her first studio album, titled
Für Dich - Akustik Best of, available only as a download through
Tchibo's homepage as well as in all their shops in Germany. On 4 August 2017, she released the second single from her then-upcoming second solo album, "Nie wieder" ("Never again"). The album was released a week later under the title
Regenbogen ("Rainbow"), which, like its predecessor, was produced by Bohlen. In November 2017, Mai and Bohlen announced the end of their professional relationship and she started working on her third studio album in her solo career,
Schlager. In July 2018, Mai released her first single "WIR 2 IMMER 1 (feat.
Olexesh)" of this album which became the most successful pop song of her by now. The album "Schlager" was released on 3 August 2018 and topped the German Charts. Thus she is the youngest
Schlager music act of all time who topped the German Charts twice in a row. In 20 August 2020, Mai, together with
Essen-based DJ Picco, took part in the
second episode in the
German version of I Can See Your Voice as a guest artist.{{cite web|title=I can see your voice: Vanessa Mai und Superfan Picco rocken die Hütte ==Personal life==