Vanessa Mai

Hailing from Germany, Vanessa Mai brings an engaging presence to her work as a vocalist and performer drawn to dance-infused electronic pop. She was born Vanessa Mandekic in Aspach in 1992 and grew up surrounded by music because her father worked as a musician. Early encouragement led her to join him for stage appearances, after which she took part in school musical productions. As a teenager she also danced with the hip-hop troupe GettinCrazd.

In 2012 she became the frontwoman for the newly formed pop act Wolkenfrei, alongside keyboardist Marc Fischer and guitarist Stefan Kinski. The group’s first album, Endlos Verliebt, appeared in 2014, yielded several singles, and reached number 18 on the album chart. Its 2015 follow-up, Wachgeküsst, climbed into the Top Ten and earned gold certification.

Building on that momentum, Mai served as a judge during the thirteenth season of the reality competition Deutschland Sucht den Superstar. Around the same period it became known that Stefan Kinski had left Wolkenfrei, allowing the project to continue under Mai’s name alone. Marc Fischer then concentrated on roles as her musical director and tour manager. In 2016 she issued her first solo album, Für Dich, which featured the single “Ich Sterb für Dich.”