Nicole

by Dave Thompson The German winner of the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, Nicole was born Nicole Hohloch in Saarbrücken on October 25, 1964. She had already scored several hits around Europe at the time of her victory, including 1981's "Flieg' Nicht So Hoch, Mein Kleiner Freund" and "Der Alte Mann und das Meer"; her debut album, also titled Flieg' Nicht So Hoch, Mein Kleiner Freund, also appeared that year. It was "A Little Peace," her Eurovision victor, that truly established Nicole, however. The single even topped the U.K. chart, the most successful foreign winner since ABBA in 1974, and paved the way for a Top Ten follow-up, "Give Me More Time." Nicole also scored with her debut album, A Little Peace. Subsequent releases were not so successful, but Nicole remained a star in her homeland and elsewhere across the European continent, scoring a number of major hits as the 1980s continued on -- "Wenn die Blumen Weinen Könnten" and "Ich Hab' Dich Doch Lieb" in 1983, "Allein In Griechenland" (1985), "Lass Mich Nicht Allein" and "Mit Dir Leben" (1986), "Song for the World" (1987), and many more. Her albums during this period included So Viele Lieder Sind In Mir (1984), Gesichter der Liebe (1985), Laß Mich Nicht Allein (1986), Moderne Piraten (1987), and So Wie Du (1988). The success of 1990's Für Immer...für Ewig album proved that Nicole was going to remain as popular through the new decade as she did during the last, and so it has proven. Releasing an average of one album per year through the 1990s and 2000s, Nicole is now regarded among Germany's most reliable, and successful, hitmakers. Her most recent albums, 2006's Begleite Mich and the year-end Christmas Songs, were both best-sellers, while a 2005 compilation, Best Of: 1982-2005, rounds up many of her best-loved recordings.