Kim Frank

Singer/actor Kim Frank first rose to prominence as the lead vocalist for the brief German pop/rock outfit Echt before launching his solo path in 2007 via the album Hellblau. Born Kim Alexander Frank on May 24, 1982, in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, he studied at Kurt-Tucholsky-Schule and formed Echt alongside four fellow students there. The Laughing H label signed the teenage group, which issued its debut full-length, Echt, in 1998; the set reached the German Top Five and number 16 in Austria while yielding the hit singles “Alles Wird Sich Ändern,” “Wir Haben's Getan,” “Wo Bist Du Jetzt?,” and “Fort von Mir.” Their second effort, Freischwimmer (1999), climbed to number one in Germany and entered the Top Ten in both Austria and Switzerland, generating further hits with “Du Trägst Keine Liebe in Dir,” “Weinst Du,” “Junimond,” and “2010.” Echt’s third album and first Universal release, Recorder (2001), proved far less successful, remaining on the German chart for just four weeks compared with the 48 weeks logged by its predecessor and producing only the modest single “Wie Geht Es Dir So?,” which likewise charted for four weeks. The relative disappointment of Recorder, coupled with friction that surfaced while writing and tracking what was the band’s most personal record to date, prompted Echt’s dissolution in 2002. Frank, still unsettled by the split, stepped away from music for a period to explore photography and film, most prominently taking the role of Henrik Heidler in the 2005 German feature NVA. He staged a notable comeback to recording in 2007, issuing the maxi-single Lara through Universal in February, the full-length Hellblau in March, and the follow-up maxi-single Zwei Sommer in May; each release charted, with the album reaching the Top 30.