Stefan Zauner

Stefan Zauner (* 30th June 1952 in Göttingen) is a German musician, composer and producer. He became known as singer of the band Münchener Freiheit who use simply the name Freiheit for their English-language albums.
He was born in 1952 as son of the film director, and later science-fiction author, Georg Zauner (Author). After finishing school, Zauner studied graphic design in Munich and Basel. He spent one year in the United States, hoping to pursue a musical career there, but returned to Germany in the late 1970s. He lived on the island of Ibiza from 1991 until 2009 and now calls the Bavarian town of Töging am Inn his home. In 2012 Zauner remarried after his first wife had died in 2002.Er hat still und leise „Ja“ gesagt bunte.de vom 16. September 2012
Zauner gained first musical experiences together with composer and producer Harold Faltermeyer with whom he played in a beat-band.
In the late 1970s Zauner was a member of the legendary "Krautrock" band Amon Düül|Amon Düül 2, where he for instance co-wrote the song "Kismet", published in 1978. https://secondhandsongs.com/work/5107 Upon returning from the United States in the late 1970s, he produced his first solo albums "Narziss und Goldmund" and "Prism & Views". Jordan Rudess, keyboard player of the progressive-rock band Dream Theater considered "Prism & Views" as being among the best progressive rock albums of all time.http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/dream-theaters-jordan-rudess-the-10-greatest-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-544264/11
=== Münchener Freiheit ===
In 1980 Stefan Zauner, together with Aron Strobel founded the band Münchener Freiheit where he was the main singer, and, together with Strobel, wrote and produced most of the songs. In the 1980s and 1990s Münchener Freiheit were among Germany's most successful bands. Until 2010, Zauner and his band published 20 studio albums, three of which in English. They are best known in the English language world for their single "Keeping the Dream Alive". This song became a #14 hit single in the UK Singles Chart when released in December 1988, making Münchener Freiheit a one-hit wonder there.
In November 2011 Zauber announced that he had left the band in order to pursue projects on his own.https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchner-freiheit-band-saenger-1.1221249 "Solange man Träume noch Leben kann", Süddeutsche Zeitung, 29 November 2011 
=== Deuces Wild ===
In 1991 Zauner and mit Aron Strobel published the album Living in the Sun using as a band name Deuces Wild (Band)|Deuces Wild. http://www.radioswisspop.ch/de/musikdatenbank/song/7865da45b5fbf83b602e0e1113d1a39ba5b7. In order not to get confounded with Münchener Freiheit, the credits to the songs mentioned Steven Fencer (a translation of his German name) and Nora Le Borts (a mirror image of Aron Strobel) as pseudonyms.
=== Solo career ===
Following the pre-Münchener Freiheit solo albums, Zauner produced another solo album in 1995: Some Other Language, using as band name "S.O.L". Collaborators on S.O.L were, among others Queen (Band)|Queen-Guitarist Brian May and the band The Hooters.
After leaving Münchener Freiheit, Zauber produced the albums Zeitgefühl (2012), FABELhaft (2014),https://www.da-music.de/Pop/Kuenstler/Stefan-Zauner/Biografie Mensch, ärgere Dich nicht (2016) and the compilation So weit, so gut (2017). The album Persönlich was published in 2019. For his 2020 album Die Freiheit nehm ich mir Zauner re-recorded a selection of earlier Münchener Freiheit songs that had not been released as singles. https://www.schlager.de/news/2020/09/11/ex-muenchener-freiheit-saenger-stefan-zauner-er-verraet-den-wahren-grund-der-trennung/ Several songs on these albums feature Zauner's wife Petra Manuela as additional vocalist.
One of the songs from the album "Zeitgefühl" was also published in English as "What about time", using as band name "Random Heart" and composer credits "Steven Fencer".
=== Collaboration with other artists ===
Zauner has collaborated with, among other, the following artists:
artist 	function 	title 	year
Artists United for Nature	Vocals 	Yes We Can (Single) 	1989
Charade 	Producer, composer 	Charade (Album) 	1992
Die Fantastischen Vier 	Backing Vocals 	Ernten was wir säen (Single) 	2007
Jasmin Wagner 	Remix, Backing Vocals 	Gib mir noch Zeit (Single) 	1997
Joy & The Hitkids 	Composer 	Feelin’ 	1969
Maggie Reilly 	Producer, composer, keyboards	Echoes (Album) 	1992http://www.radioswisspop.ch/de/musikdatenbank/song/61403d310aaccd8092b2570d72f4c52e589e
Nicki 	Composer 	Endlich bist du da (Song) 	1986
Nicole 	Composer 	Gib dich nicht auf (Song) 	2001
Orlando Riva Sound 	Composer 	Moonboots (Single) 	1976
Isabel Varell 	Composer, producer 	Alles neu (Album) und einzelne Singles	seit 2011
Virginia Jetzt! 	Arranger, backing vocals 	Blühende Landschaften (Album) 	2009
=== Albums ===
* 1976: Narziss
* 1978: Prism & Views
* 1995: Some Other Language (als „S.O.L.“)
* 2012: Zeitgefühl
* 2014: FABELhaft
* 2016: Mensch ärgere Dich nichtAlben-Discographie St. Zauner, discographien.de
* 2019: Persönlich (with Petra Manuela)
* 2020: Die Freiheit nehm ich mir
=== Singles ===
* 1978: Hooked On The Groove
* 1995: Gumbayea (als „S.O.L.“)
* 1995: Something For Beginners (als „S.O.L.“)
* 2012: Tick Tack (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2012: Liebe besiegt die Zeit
* 2012: What About Time? (as „Random Heart“)
* 2013: Wunderbar
* 2013: Man kann
* 2014: Fang an (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2014: Wenn der Tag beginnt (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2014: Nur mit ihr (geht die Sonne auf)
* 2014: Wir werden seh’n (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2015: Das was man am meisten will (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2015: Die Odyssee geht weiter (feat. Petra Manuela)
* 2016: So wie wir leben (feat. Petra Manuela)
Category:German people
Category:German musicians
Category:German producers