Wir Sind Helden: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

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Formed:

Jan 1, 2001

Genres:

Rock Music, Adult Alternative

Decades Active:

2000's

German alternative pop quartet Wir Sind Helden (We Are Heroes) formed in 2001. Singer/guitarist Judith Holofernes enjoyed a solo career, in 1999 issuing the LP Kamikazefliege, prior to recruiting keyboardist JeanMichel Tourette and drummer Pola Roy, the latter suggesting bassist Mark Tavassol to complete the lineup. Drawing influence from the Neue Deutsche Welle, Wir Sind Helden recorded and selfreleased a fivesong EP titled Guten Tag in mid2002 and soon after scored a leftfield German radio hit with the title cut. A bidding war inevitably followed, and upon signing to EMI's Labels subsidiary, the band issued its fulllength debut, Die Reklamation, in the summer of 2003. Buoyed by a soldout club tour and several wellreceived television appearances, the album soared to number two on the German pop charts, scoring a Top 40 hit via "Denkmal." Its 2005 followup, Von Hier an Blind, entered the German and Austrian charts at number one, generating the hits "Gekommen um zu Bleiben" and "Nur ein Wort." The album's sales were also boosted by Wir Sind Helden's performance on the Berlin stage of the international benefit concert Live 8. In late 2006, Holofernes and Roy announced the birth of their first child.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide