Yvonne Catterfeld was born in Erfurt, Thuringia, in 1979. At 15 years of age she started studying piano and flute. At the same time she began pursuing vocal and dance lessons, which would lead to her post-secondary education in pop and jazz at the Music Academy of Leipzig. Her seven-song debut release, entitled KIV, hit the market in 1998 and was met with a chilly industry response, almost completely ignored by the local scene. A few years later, after her studies were complete, Catterfeld competed in the singing contest Stimme 2000, under the name Vivianne. Thanks to her participation, she met with manager and soon-to-be BMG exec Thomas Stein, who secured her a contract with the Hansa Music label. Her 2001 single "Burn" yet again fell short of expectations, but subsequent singles "Niemand Sonst" and "Gefuhle" garnered some notice. In 2002, she secured a role on the German soap opera Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten, which she would play for the next three years. Thanks to her television visibility, Yvonne's next single, "Fur Dich," hit number one on the German, Austrian, and Swiss charts. The full-length release that followed, Meine Welt, would have similar success, achieving platinum status. Only a year later, Farben Meiner Welt was released. Her television career continued to sputter along with the early termination of Sophie -- Braut Wider Willen. In 2006 Catterfeld released her fourth solo record, Aura, to mixed reviews and slow sales. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi
