Sarah Connor

Sarah Lewe ( Connor ) (born as Sarah Marianne Corina Lewe in June 13, 1980), better known by her stage name Sarah Connor, which she chose in an effort to ride the fame of the hit action movie "The Terminator", is a German singer, songwriter and television personality. Connor debuted in 2001 under the guidance of artist manager George Glueck and became the first solo act to ever have four consecutive chart-topping hits on the German Singles Chart. Following success in mainland Europe with her single "From Sarah with Love" and her R&B-oriented debut album Green Eyed Soul, a series of hit records established her position as the most successful German pop female vocalists to emerge in the 2000s with sales in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. Her latest effort, seventh studio album Real Love, was released in October 2010, amid her engagement as judge on the German reality television show X Factor.

Awarded with several prizes and accolades, Connor has received four Comets, a Top of the Pops Award, a Goldene Kamera, a Goldene Europa, a World Music Award, and an Echo. She married the American pop-rock musician Marc Terenzi in 2004, with whom she appeared in two reality shows, Sarah & Marc in Love (2007) and Sarah & Marc Crazy In Love (2008). They ended their relationship with divorce in 2008. Connor is the eldest of six siblings born to Michael Lewe, an advertising writer of American descent, and his wife Soraya Lewe-Tacke (née Gray), a former fashion model and homemaker of Scottish, Irish and German heritage, in Hamburg. She has four sisters: Anna Maria, Marisa, Sophia-Luisa, and Valentina; and one brother, Robin. Her maternal half-brothers Mick and Lex were born in 2008. Connor grew up listening to soul music, mostly influenced by her paternal grandfather who was born in New Orleans. A church choir became her first experience in the gospel music field at a very young age. In her teen years Connor tried out and was accepted to a performing arts school. Although all students were required to choose an instrument, Connor was the only one allowed to study voice. She took vocal lessons once a week and worked as a waitress in a hotel to pay for them.

In 1997, Connor was picked to sing with the backing choir during the performance of "Heal the World" at Michael Jackson's HIStory concert tour in Bremen, Germany. Overwhelmed by a personal meeting with Jackson at the end of the show, she signed a contract with her first management the following year, that resulted in her pseudonym Sarah Gray and the recording of a number of demo tapes, including cover versions such as "Silent Night" and "This Christmas" and the local radio success "Ula la Ula." In 1999, she provided the leading vocals for producer Marc van Linden's dance remix of the 1982 record "Last Unicorn," which reached number 86 on the German Singles Chart. Unhappy with her management though, Connor teamed up with manager Carlo Vista, who got her signed as Sarah Connor with producer George Glueck's label X-Cell Records a short time after. As a direct consequence, she decided to quit school and leave home at the age of 19.