Pe Werner

Born Pe Malou Werner in Heidelberg on October 13, 1960, the singer, composer, lyricist, author and cabaret artist is at home in many niches. Pe Werner was born in Heidelberg and grew up in southern Hesse. Her parents lived in Dresden in the GDR until 1957. They then moved to the Federal Republic of Germany. At the age of three, she could already memorize poems by Wilhelm Busch. Later, she took part in the youth theater at the Martin Luther School in Rimbach. There, for example, she played Polly in Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera”. She has been composing her own songs since the age of 16.

Career

As a child, like many teenagers, she dreamed of a great career: “I played a singer in front of the mirror, with a hairbrush in my hand as a microphone. After school, the limelight still beckoned, and after three semesters studying graphics and design, Pe applied – unsuccessfully – to various drama schools.

But the young woman stays on the ball. In the 1980s, Pe made her first small appearances, including at the regional cabaret Dusche with the group Alarmstufe Pink. She founded the duo PS with a friend and was awarded the Swiss Cabaret Prize in 1985. The relationship between men and women plays an important role in her work. Pe packs her observations and experiences into sometimes cheerful and amusing, sometimes thoughtful and melancholy texts and arrangements.

1990 sees the release of “Weibsbilder”, a first album of pop songs written by the singer/songwriter. The reward was the German Record Critics’ Award in 1991. Her own program entitled “Der Kleine Lebenshunger Zwischendurch” (The Little Hunger for Life in Between) takes her on the road as a cabaret solo artist for the first time. However, her work as a lyricist and composer subsequently gains in importance.

Her national breakthrough came in 1991 with the album “Kribbeln Im Bauch”. The single of the same name becomes a nationwide hit and finally establishes Pe as an artist to be taken seriously. In the years that followed, she collected all kinds of prizes and awards for her other albums, including the Echo, the Golden Tuning Fork and the Lale Andersen Prize. As a writer, she publishes the book “Mehr Als Ein Kribbeln Im Bauch” and records the audio book “Dichtungen Aller Art”.

Her solo concerts are always accompanied by the pianist Peter Grabinger, who is not only convincing on the piano, but also acts as a sensitive accompanist.

Since 2002, Pe Werner has used her musical skills to support the annual “Cover me” charity concert organized by the Cologne AIDS service organization for the benefit of the Lebenshaus foundation set up by Dirk Bach.

In addition to her own music, Pe Werner also writes and composes for other well-known artists. Her works can be found in the repertoire of Petra Zieger, Katja Ebstein, Milva and Barbara Schöneberger, among others, Michelle , Mary Roos and many others. A notable success as a songwriter was her participation in the German preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the title “Hinterm Ozean”, interpreted by Carolin Fortenbacher, which came a close second.

However, her work is not limited to writing and composing. Pe Werner has also released a number of successful albums, including the German Jazz Award-winning album “Im Mondrausch” (2009) and the homage to Marlene Dietrich “Von Kopf bis Fuß” in collaboration with Götz Alsmann and Tim Fischer. She was also elected to the advisory board of the German Lyricists’ Association in 2018 and is a deputy member of the supervisory board of GEMA .

With her current album “Hereinspaziert!” (2023), Pe Werner honors the legendary composer Bert Kaempfert, whose works she reinterprets with German lyrics. Her musicality and versatility make her a permanent fixture on the German music scene. And although she is at home in Cologne, her influence extends far beyond the city limits.

Pe Werner’s concerts are not just musical performances, but she garnishes her performances with stories, tales and poems. “I never saw myself in a pigeonhole. I wasn’t feminist, I wasn’t political, none of that. That gave me the freedom to listen to anyone and just make stories with songs.” Pe Werner is a genuine, mature all-rounder who has no fear of contact with a wide variety of styles such as pop , rock chanson, jazz or classical music.

Pe Werner gives an insight into the genesis of her new album “Vitamin Pe”. The songs, which were originally intended for other artists, have taken on a new meaning for her personally. She attaches particular importance to the authenticity of handmade music and brought first-class musicians into the studio for the recordings, including Frank Chastenier on piano and Bruno Müller on guitar.

Particularly noteworthy are songs such as “Hinterm Ozean”, which was once written for the Eurovision Song Contest, or “Liebe geht durch den Magen”, which was written especially for cabaret artist Bernd Stelter. Pe Werner emphasizes the emotional connection between music and audience, as she already experienced with her earlier hit “Kribbeln im Bauch”.

Studio albums

• 1989 Females
• 1991 Tingling in the stomach
• 1993 Go!
• 1994 Pe Werner
• 1996 Etepetete
• 1998 A night of bliss
• 2000 Queen of Hearts
• 2002 Legroom
• 2004 collector’s item
• 2006 Seals of all kinds
• 2009 Moon poetry
• 2009 In the moon rush
• 2011 With large cutlery
• 2023 Come in!
• 2024 Vitamin Pe

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