Yvonne Catterfeld - Biography

Biography

Catterfeld was born in Erfurt, Thuringia, then in East Germany, in 1979. At the age of 15 she started playing the piano and the flute, simultaneously taking first dance and vocal lessons. After the high school graduation she studied Pop and Jazz at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre in Leipzig for two years. In 1998 she eventually released her first recordings titled KIV, but the seven songs only found little to none professional response.

After her studies Yvonne participated in the singing contest Stimme 2000 (briefly performing under the name Vivianne), where she met manager and later BMG boss Thomas Stein, who offered her a contract with the sub-label Hansa Music. In 2001 she released her first official single, Bum, a cover of the same-titled All Saints track, but once again the record did not enter the charts. At least the following three single Komm zurück zu mir, Niemand sonst and Gefühle helped to expand Catterfeld's popularity. In 2002 she became part of popular German soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten, where she portrayed the role of Julia Blum until 2005. Pushed by her TV presence Yvonne finally found big success with her fourth single produced by Dieter Bohlen Für dich, which went to #1 of the German, Austrian and Swiss singles charts. Her first album Meine Welt saw similar success and was eventually certified Platinum. One year later she was able to reprise this success with Du hast mein Herz gebrochen and her second album Farben meiner Welt.

In November 2005 Catterfeld became the leading actress in the historical telenovela Sophie – Braut Wider Willen. However, the show never answered the network's expectations and as a result it ended in March 2006 after only 65 episodes. At the same time Yvonne released her first single in English, Where Does The Love Go, a collaboration with singer Eric Benét.

In 2006, Catterfeld released her fourth studio album, Aura.

She dated German actor Wayne Carpendale since January 2005; they separated in August 2007. She dated German actor Oliver Wnuk since October 2007.

Catterfeld has also recently become a spokesperson for Proactiv Solution.

Because of her resemblance with Romy Schneider, Catterfeld was planned to play the title role in the Warner Bros. 2009 film Eine Frau wie Romy (A Woman Like Romy). The project was cancelled in July 2009.