Christina Stürmer

Though Austrian pop star Christina Stürmer first gained notice by finishing second behind Michael Tschuggnall on Starmania, the televised singing contest modeled after Pop Idol, her subsequent string of award-winning albums and singles ultimately outshone his trajectory. Having already topped the domestic charts, she issued her international debut album Schwarz Weiss and swiftly emerged as one of the most commercially successful Austrian acts throughout German-speaking Europe. During the 2010s she delivered four consecutive number-one albums—Lebe lauter in 2006, In Dieser Stadt in 2009, Ich Hör Auf Mein Herz in 2013, and Seite an Seite in 2016—before extending that run with the 2021 Lemo collaboration “Nur Mensch” and the 2023 career-spanning MTV Unplugged concert recording.

Prior to her 2002 appearance on Starmania, Stürmer had been employed at a bookstore in Linz while performing with assorted local bands. Although she did not win the contest, her visibility increased once the series concluded. In 2003 she issued her debut single “Ich Liebe” and assembled a backing band comprising guitarists Oliver Varga and Hartmut Kamm, bassist Gwenael Damman, and drummer Klaus Perez-Salado. Her first album, Freier Fall, reached the top of the Austrian charts, prompting her designation as the nation’s Shooting Star by year’s end.

The next year, the strong chart performance of her single “Vorbei” and the album Soll das Wirklich Alles Sein? across both Austria and Germany confirmed her expanding audience, a fact highlighted by the two Amadeus Austrian Music Awards she received for Best Pop/Rock Artist and Newcomer of the Year. After releasing Wirklich Alles!, she collected additional Amadeus honors in 2005, again taking Best Pop/Rock Artist while also earning Single of the Year for “Vorbei.” In 2006 Stürmer maintained her dominance in Austria and Germany, securing another pair of Amadeus awards for Best Pop/Rock Artist and Single of the Year along with a Goldene Stimmgabel for Best German Rock/Pop Artist and an Echo Award for Best National Female Artist.

That same year she put out her fourth album, Lebe Lauter, which yielded the singles “Nie Genug” and “Um bei Dir zu Sein/Am Sommertagen.” In 2008 she recorded “Fieber,” the official theme for the UEFA European Football Championship co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland. She followed with the 2009 LP In Dieser Stadt and, in 2010, released her ninth studio album Nahaufnahme, which attained platinum certification at home. After a three-year hiatus she returned in 2013 with Ich Hör Auf Mein Herz; propelled by its hit title track across Europe, the album again achieved major chart success. Stürmer reclaimed Austrian airplay supremacy in 2016 with the gold-selling Seite an Seite and extended her commercial hold two years later via the chart-topping eighth long-player Überall zu Hause. In 2021 she joined German pop artist Lemo for the hit single “Nur Mensch,” then issued the career-spanning live LP MTV Unplugged.