Marianne Rosenberg is back with a new album. In this interview she talks about her collaboration with young musicians.
For her 50th stage anniversary in 2020, Marianne Rosenberg (69) stormed to the top of the German album charts for the first time with her album “Im Namen der Liebe”. With her new work “Bunter Planet”, which will be released on June 7, 2024, she could achieve this feat again. In the 14 new hymns to the free society and “the beauty that lies in an open coexistence”, the singer sounds as fresh and danceable as never before.
For the new album, Marianne Rosenberg brought two young colleagues, Leslie Clio (37) and Namika (32), into the studio to bring the “disco feeling” into the present day. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, she reports how current trends influence her music and why she didn’t make it to the Eurovision Song Contest with her mega hit “Er gehört zu mir”.
Ms. Rosenberg, your new album “Bunter Planet” sounds surprisingly contemporary and contains many danceable disco numbers. How do you manage to keep reinventing yourself musically?
Marianne Rosenberg: My production team and I follow very closely the current influences of musicians born after us. We don’t like everything, but this allows us to – sometimes unconsciously – incorporate modern trends into our work. We don’t copy, but we also don’t close ourselves off to the ideas of subsequent generations of musicians. That is certainly one reason that shapes our sound. Danceable rhythms and successful string arrangements round off the picture and bring back the disco feeling.
Several of the new songs were created in collaboration with young musicians such as Leslie Clio and Namika. How did these cross-generational collaborations come about?
Rosenberg: I am in constant contact with several musicians, including younger ones of course. We often exchange ideas and sometimes we work together. I find that very nice and it also prevents me from focusing on myself or repeating myself over and over again.
In the title song of the album you conjure up the old dream of a tolerant and peaceful “colorful planet” where love and not money rules. How far away does this “colorful planet” seem to you at the moment?
Rosenberg: Our society and actually the whole world seem to be becoming more and more polarized. On the one hand, there is power, oppression, hatred and wars, and on the other hand, more and more people, fortunately many young people too, are taking to the streets for freedom, tolerance, diversity, climate protection and against right-wing manipulators. So I am definitely not the only one who longs for a colorful world. How far are we from that? I think that depends on all of us and our commitment.
There are no Marianne Rosenberg tours planned for 2024. Will we be able to see you live again next year around your 70th birthday?
Rosenberg: I’m not really looking forward to mass events in large multi-purpose halls. But a club tour, where there is more direct contact between me and the people, would be interesting for me next year. Being able to look into the eyes of the people who experience my music with me is the most beautiful thing there is for me.
In your career you have taken part in five Eurovision Song Contest preliminaries, but have never managed to come first. Would you consider trying again?
Rosenberg: Back in the 70s, my music was probably ahead of its time. Songs like “Marleen” or “Er gehört zu mir” had an incredibly difficult time. Most people didn’t know Phillysound from Germany and found the rhythms very unusual. “Er gehört zu mir” failed in the preliminary round. It wasn’t until the 80s and 90s that these songs became what they are today. At the moment, I’m not so keen on getting back into the ring with other musicians. I love music more than anything, but I don’t like competitions.
In 2023 you took part in the TV show “The Masked Singer”. What was it like for you to be on stage as a giant mushroom for the first time in your career?
Rosenberg: I found the task of moving in other keys and other genres to be a great and rewarding challenge, even though most people recognized my voice straight away. The costume was certainly very funny, but it had one huge drawback. I could hardly walk in it, let alone act or dance. As a result, the fungus often seemed to have grown on me. But all in all, I had a lot of fun.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
