Dschinghis Khan

Dschinghis Khan(German pronunciation:[ˌdʒɪŋɡɪsˈkaːn]; "Genghis Khan") is a GermanEurodiscopopband. It was originally formed inMunichin1979to compete in theEurovision Song Contestwith their song "Dschinghis Khan".
The original group consisted of six members: Louis Hendrik Potgieter, Edina Pop, Henriette Strobel, Wolfgang Heichel, Leslie Mándoki, and Steve Bender, performed from 1979 to their first disbandment in 1985.
In 2005, the surviving Dschinghis Khan members reunited to recreate the music group that had been broken up, but years later they separately organized different bands all under the brand name "Dschinghis Khan".
Dschinghis Khan was managed by German producerRalph Siegeland choreographed by Hannes Winkler, one of the most famous German choreographers during that time.Their originaleponymous songwas written and produced by Siegel with lyrics byBernd Meinungerand came in fourth place at theEurovision Song Contest 1979inJerusalem. Their name is one of several possible German spellings (the most common is "Dschingis Khan") of the name of the historical figureGenghis Khanof theMongol Empire.The only nativeGermansin the group were the bald-headed Karl-Heinz "Steve" Bender and Wolfgang Heichel, who brought hisDutch-born wife Henriette (néeStrobel) with him. Louis Hendrik Potgieter (Genghis Khan) wasSouth African. Edina Pop (Marika Késmárky) was aHungarianwho had started her singing career in West Germany in 1969.Leslie Mándoki, also Hungarian, had left Hungary in 1975.
In 1979, the group released the singles "Dschinghis Khan"and "Moskau". A year later, the English version of "Moskau" topped the charts in Australia for six weeks,largely thanks toSeven Networkusing the song as the theme music for coverage of the1980 Summer Olympics. In an interview with Russian television presenter Alexandra Glotova, the producer of the group Dschinghis Khan, Heinz Gross, said that in the 1980s, the group was banned in theSoviet Unionand was accused of anti-communism and nationalism.
Following the success of the singles "Hadschi Halef Omar", "Rom", "Pistolero", and "Loreley", Dschinghis Khan underwent an image change, with their songs becoming more folk-oriented with their fourth album,Helden, Schurken & der Dudelmoser. As a result, their popularity waned. The group released their fifth album,Corrida, which served as the soundtrack to the musical of the same name by Siegel and Meinunger. After the release of the single "Mexico", Dschinghis Khan disbanded in 1985.
Following Dschinghis Khan's disbandment, the members took different paths. Mándoki became a successful musician and producer while Pop pursued a solo singing career and Bender worked as a music producer. The success of the band eventually led to Wolfgang and Henriette's divorce in 1986, with Henriette reverting to her maiden name of Strobel.
In 1986, the group reunited as "Dschinghis Khan Family", but only with original members Strobel on vocals, Mándoki on drums, and Potgieter on keyboards. The song "Wir gehör'n zusammen" led them to a national qualifying round of theEurovision Song Contest, where they finished in second place.
In 1994, Potgieter died ofAIDSin South Africa.
On 17 December 2005, Dschinghis Khan reunited at the Retro FM Festival inMoscow, with founding members Bender, Pop, Heichel, and Strobel joined by new members Stefan Track, Kaya Ebru, and Daniel Käsling. In May 2006, Bender died of cancer.The song "Wie Feuer im Wind" on the group's 2007 album7 Lebenwas dedicated to both Potgieter and Bender.
In 2006, Track left the group and started his own solo project called Rocking Son. On July 15, Strobel, Heichel, and Pop were joined by the dance group The Legacy of Dschinghis Khan in a concert inMongolia. The dance group consisted of Claus Kupreit, Corinna Günzel, Benjamin Schobel, Evi Weigand, Stefan Sauter, and Angelika Nimbach; Kurpreit would go on to become a permanent member of Dschinghis Khan. In 2014, Heichel left the group due to creative differences.
In 2018, Dschinghis Khan re-recorded "Moskau" with new lyrics for the2018 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in Russia. For the German and English versions, the lead vocals were performed by formerUS5member Jay Khan.Alexander Malininand his daughter Ustinya performed the Russian version, titled "Moskva". The Spanish version, titled "Moscú", was performed by Jorge Jiménez and Marifer Medrano.At the same time, Heichel teamed up with Track to record the song "We Love Football". It was revealed that Heichel gained the rights to the Dschinghis Khan name in Germany and Spain.Strobel, Pop, Kupreit, and producer Heinz Gross also own the rights to the name Dschinghis Khan,with both group patents revealing the use of their own logos. As a result, there are two disco groups operating under the name Dschinghis Khan.
On 12 September 2020, dancer and singer Johannes Kupreit died in a car accident in Germany.Tributes were paid from the members and Dschinghis Khan fans from around the world.By the end of 2020, Pop and Strobel retired from their band. Meanwhile, the Heichel and Track faction of Dschinghis Khan released the studio albumHere We Go, which is a mix of new songs and self-covers.
In July 2021, Siegel sued Heichel when the latter attempted to bar him from releasing the 2018 FIFA World Cup version of "Moskau" and claimed to have full ownership of the Dschinghis Khan name. The Munich Regional Court ruled in favor of Siegel and awarded him the trademark rights to the group, citing him as the group's original creator and producer and the group's prior disbandments did not affect his ownership rights.
In January 2022, Wolfgang Heichel posted a statement on his Facebook in regards to his split from Stefan Track's iteration of Dschinghis Khan, due to serious creative differences and the claim that Track's "Dschinghis Khan" account falsely claims to be the original Dschinghis Khan.
In 2023, the Siegel lineup was revamped with three new members: Marco Matias, Selina Kohl, and Michael Thurner.