Matthias Reim

Matthias Reim (born 26 November 1957) is a German pop and Schlager singer. His 1990 single "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" ("Damn, I love you") was a hit in several European countries and spent 16 consecutive weeks at the number 1 spot in the German charts. He unexpectedly returned 23 years later to the top on the charts with "Unendlich" in 2013.

Early life Reim was born on 26 November 1957 in Korbach and grew up in Homberg. His father was the director of the gymnasium in Homberg. After receiving his Abitur, he began his undergraduate studies in the German and English languages as well as Germanistic and Anglistic literatures in Göttingen. This took 18 terms – this is above average, as he spent time predominantly in the music studio and not in the lecture-room.

Career 1980–1989: Fallen Dice and Fair Fax Reim's career began as a songwriter, writing for Bernhard Brink, Roberto Blanco and Tina York. He played in a rock band called Fallen Dice with Pete Goldenberg and Norbert Preis. Their debut album, Pasch 1, was released in 1981. He spent a brief time as lead singer of the band Aqua before their dissolution in 1984. In 1986, Reim formed the synthpop duo Fair Fax with Jörg Wiesner. They released one single, "Satellite Dream", through Hansa Records.

1990–1999: Solo career Reim's debut single "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" ("Damn, I love you") topped the German Singles Chart for sixteen consecutive weeks in 1990. It also reached no. 1 in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. His debut album, Reim, was released through Polydor on 15 June 1990. He released a further nine albums through Polydor, including 1994's Zauberland which was re-recorded in English the following year. In 1991, he won a World Music Award for Best-Selling German Recording Artist.

2000–2015: The Electrola years Reim began to see increased commercial success again in the 2000s after signing with Electrola.

In September 2004, Reim released the single "Vergiß Es (Forget It)" with Bonnie Tyler. It featured on Reim's compilation album, Déjà Vu, and reached no. 64 on the German Singles Chart. They recorded a second duet on Reim's thirteenth album, Sieben Leben (2010).

In 2011, Reim released a Christmas album titled Die große Weihnachtsparty, which includes a German cover of "Last Christmas" by Wham!.

In 2013, Reim topped the German Albums Chart for a second time with Unendlich.

2016–present: Recent work Reim moved to RCA Records in 2016 for the release of his sixteenth album, Phoenix, which peaked at no. 2 in Germany. His subsequent albums Meteor (2018), MR20 (2019) and Matthias (2022) all peaked within the top 3.

In 2022, Reim wrote the song "Bastian [Blaulicht in der Nacht]" in memory of his son Bastian, who died in October 2022 at the age of 35. Reim also sang the song "Vater und Sohn" in duet with his son Julian (born 1996), a German adaptation of Cat Stevens' song Father and Son.

Personal life Reim has been married four times and has seven children from six different mothers. In 1973, at the age of 15-16, he fathered a daughter, Claudia, of whose existence he only learned in 2015. They had a son, Julian, born in 1996, who became a Schlager singer. After the end of his third marriage, he and Christin Stark lived together in Bodman-Ludwigshafen, following their marriage, they moved to Stockach.

Discography Albums YearDetailsPeak chart position Certifications(sales thresholds) 1990Reim Released: 15 June 1990 Label: Polydor 1 1 1 30 : 3× Platinum IFPI AUT: Gold IFPI SWI: Platinum 1991Reim 2 Released: 23 September 1991 Label: Polydor 5 6 8 — BVMI: Platinum IFPI AUT: Gold IFPI SWI: Platinum 1993Sabotage Released: 10 May 1993 Label: Polydor 11 — 15 —1994Zauberland Released: 19 September 1994 Label: Polydor 26 — 47 —1995Alles klar Released: 29 September 1995 Label: Polydor — — — —1997Reim 3 Released: 17 March 1997 Label: Polydor 40 — — —1998Sensationell Released: 20 April 1998 Label: Polydor 51 — — —2000Wolkenreiter Released: 26 May 2000 Label: Electrola 33 — — —2002Morgenrot Released: 22 February 2002 Label: Electrola 16 52 74 —2003Reim Released: 15 August 2003 Label: Electrola 4 19 44 — BVMI: Gold 2005Unverwundbar Released: 16 September 2005 Label: Electrola 7 32 — — BVMI: Gold 2007Männer sind Krieger Released: 11 May 2007 Label: Electrola 10 38 — —2010Sieben Leben Released: 29 October 2010 Label: Electrola 5 17 56 — BVMI: Gold 2013Unendlich Released: 25 January 2013 Label: Electrola 1 9 28 — BVMI: Platinum 2014Die Leichtigkeit des Seins Released: 2 May 2014 Label: Electrola 2 11 34 — BVMI: Gold 2016Phoenix Released: 15 April 2016 Label: RCA 2 10 16 — BVMI: Gold 2018Meteor Released: 23 March 2018 Label: RCA 3 12 19 —2019MR20 Released: 25 October 2019 Label: RCA 3 15 22 — BVMI: Gold 2022Matthias Released: 14 January 2022 Label: RCA 2 5 6 —2024Zeppelin Released: 26 April 2024 Label: RCA 4 5 11 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.