Thomas Helmig

Thomas Helmig (born October 15, 1964 in Egå suburb of Aarhus, Denmark) is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singer in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s.

Biography

Thomas Helmig grew up in the home of a medical doctor in Egå, a suburb of Aarhus. His parents divorced, when he was quite young, and the boy feeling unconfortable with this took refuge to the piano, learning to play by himself. About 10 years old he formed his first band called Heavy Oil, inspired by the popular band of the 1970s, Gasolin'. The following years he also learned to play guitar and drums.

He entered the gymnasium, but left during the first year to pursue his musical interests. This was approved by his parents. He left the country to be an exchange student in high school in the USA, and here he discovered the Motown sound, which he played with som local soul musicians in Detroit.

Returning after a year, he entered a local Aarhus-band called Kaksi Kuggas Band in 1981, and they played different places in the area. Helmig joined the musical scene of Aarhus, which was rather narrow, and i 1983 he became the singer in a band called Elevatordrengene. This became a minor success and toured the country for the next two years.

Breakthrough

In 1985 Helmig was invited to contribute to the Danish Africa Aid song called "Afrika". This meant, that he was discovered by the record company Genlyd, and they produced his first solo album, simply called "Thomas". The album became a huge Danish success, and the singer, aged 19, was praise for his empathic expression. The same year, he married another popular Danish singer, Søs Fenger.

The following year, the album "2" was released in 1986, and now Helmig had formed his band, Thomas Helmig Band, which included some of the musicians from Elevatordrengene. The third album, "Kære maskine", was more rocking than the two first, while the next album, "Vejen væk", from 1988 was much more gloomy, reflecting his emotions after his divorce from Fenger. The album became his greatest success at the time, selling 160.000 copies, and it features hits like "Nu hvor du har brændt mig af" and "Det er mig der står herude og banker på". Although divorced, he recorded some duets with Søs Fenger, and the song "Den jeg elsker, elsker jeg" released in support of the Danish AIDS-foundation also became a big hit.

On his next album, Helmig returned to his soul roots as inspired by Marvin Gaye and on the follow-up, he chose to sing in English. This opened for promoting Helmig abroad, and for a couple of years he stuck to this language. It did not diminish his popularity in his home country, and he had another huge hit with the song "Stupid Man" from the 1994-album of the same name, which also included another hit, "Gotta Get Away From You", and the album sold 250.000 copies.

During the 1990s, he tried to make his name abroad without much success, but he has managed to maintain he position at the absolute top in Denmark during more than 20 years. He writes almost all his songs and he has made songs for other artists like Søs Fenger, Hanne Boel, Sanne Salomonsen, TV-2, Malurt and many others. Besides that, he has produced many recordings for different artists.

He is the Danish artist with the largest collection of Danish Music Awards, including several "Singer of the Year", "Hit of the Year" and "Album of the Year".

Private life

Thomas Helmig has been married three times:
* 1985-1988: Singer Søs Fenger
* 1995-1997: Heidi Andersen
* 2000-: Renée Toft Simonsen, former model, psychologist and writer

Discography

Albums

* "Thomas" (1985)
* "2" (1986)
* "Kære Maskine" (1987)
* "Vejen Væk" (1988)
* "Løvens Hjerte" (1990)
* "Rhythm" (1992)
* "Say When" (1993)
* "Stupid Man" (1994)
* "Groovy Day" (1996)
* "Årene Går - De Største af de Første" (1997) (Greatest Hits, only songs in Danish)
* "Dream" (1999)
* "Wanted" (2000) (Greatest Hits, only songs in English)
* "IsItYouIsItMe" (2001)
* "El Camino" (2004)
* "Helmig Herfra" (2006)