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Xavier Naidoo began his solo career parallel to the formation of the Söhne Mannheims in 1997 together with Sabrina Setlur. With the track “Freisein” (To Be Free), to which he lent his voice, he laid the foundations for one of the most successful careers in the German music business. His album “Nicht von dieser Welt” (Not of This World), released in 1998, created a lot of head-shaking among the critics initially, because the combination of soul music with German lyrics and religion had not existed until then. Yet the fact that this “new” style of music appealed to a very large audience was quickly shown by chart positions, sales figures and sold-out tours. Xavier Naidoo established “German soul” so incisively and impressively that this genre took on a new significance in Germany. In 1999 he received the first accolades: from ECHO and COMET to the MTV Award. The media scene was no longer imaginable without him and the critics revised their initial scepticism. But his openness in relation to his ideals and his views on religion were so different to those of established artists that all kinds of strange stories and speculations about the private life of Xavier Naidoo flourished.

His fans, however, appeared unaffected by this and his second solo album “Zwischenspiel/Alles für den Herrn” (Interlude / Everything For the Men) immediately secured the top position in the album charts in 2002 and stayed in the top five for months. With a sold-out club tour in the spring and an arena tour in the autumn he also became an acclaimed live act, which he showed in 2003 with the release of the double live album “Alles Gute vor uns” (All the Best Before Us) and the double DVD of the same name, both of which were released simultaneously. Just like at the start of his career, he enjoyed working with other artists and one of these collaborations brought him his first number one in the single charts (“Ich kenne nichts (das so schön ist wie du)” [I Don’t Know Anything (Which Is As Beautiful As You)]). At the start of 2005 he simply could no longer be ignored. Whilst the Söhne Mannheims’ album “Noiz” returned to the number one spot in the album charts, he secured the same position at the end of the year for his third studio album “Telegramm für X” (Telegram For X). The success story continued seamlessly into the following year. Whilst he occupied the top position in the German charts for six weeks he also completed the hat-trick by occupying the top spot in Austria and Switzerland. When football euphoria subsided in Germany in the middle of 2006, the national team made Xavier’s single “Dieser Weg” (This Path) into a dressing room anthem. Shortly before the end of the World Cup Xavier thanked the football heroes for their dedication with the song “Danke” (Thank-you) and his media presence was greater than at any previous time. Whilst others at this point in time would have tried to continue to increase their profile, Xavier, however, withdrew from the public eye. He completely devoted himself to music and as a result, not only were various collaborations produced, but also new songs, which he presented to the public in “Wettsingen in Schwetzingen” as part of the MTV Unplugged series. Yet with all these reports of success, “Xaver”, as he is called in Mannheim, has remained natural, human and unpretentious. His career is an immaculate example of perfect taste, and shows that the musicality of the German language and the living individuality can move a great deal of people.

www.xaviernaidoo.de