Famous Swiss Singers

Known as the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, Tina Turner was one of the best-selling recording artists of all time and had a very long and successful career. Let's Stay Together, What's Love Got to Do with It, Private Dancer and Golden Eye are some of her chartbuster songs. She was also a songwriter and had acted in films too.

Born to a music producer father, Cameron McVey, and a singer mother, Neneh Cherry, Mabel McVey was destined to make a career in music. The English singer-songwriter debuted on SoundCloud with her track Know Me Better. It is believed she had initially used music as a therapy for her anxiety.

Swiss tenor Urs Bühler has made waves as part of the classical crossover male quartet Il Divo. While he began training in music at age 5 and mastered a number of instruments, he was more interested in rock and heavy metal as a teenager. Surprisingly, one of his hobbies is restoring motorbikes.

Known for his deep voice and his signature moustache, Swiss musician and conceptual artist Dieter Meier co-founded the electronic music band Yello. The son of an affluent banker, he dropped out of a law course and pursued music and art. He is also on the board of a music technology business.

Peter René Baumann, better known as DJ BoBo, is a Swiss dance music sensation who has soared to fame with tracks such as Somebody Dance with Me. While he initially wished to work in the bakery industry, his love for dance made him change his career option.

Known as a pioneer of death metal, Swiss metal musician Thomas Gabriel Fischer, also known as Satanic Slaughter, soared to fame with groups such as Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Triptykon. One of Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time, Fischer has also penned a book.

Ladyva began learning the piano at 14 and is now one of the greatest boogie woogie musicians of all time. In April 2020, the Swiss artist performed a piano piece, Quarantine Boogie, from her home, owing to the COVID-19 lockdown. The piece got her 100,000 YouTube hits in less then 5 days.

Lys Assia created history by becoming the first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. The Swiss-born singer was initially a dancer but had her first brush with music when she filled in for an absentee singer. She later released hits such as Moulin Rouge and O Mein Papa.

Swiss pop sensation Luca Hanni created history by becoming the youngest and the first non-German winner of the German talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Though he had mastered the guitar and the piano at an early age, his first job was that of a bricklayer.

While he initially studied law, Swiss singer Thomas Winkler later found his calling in heavy metal and gained fame as part of the British power metal band Gloryhammer. In late 2021, a Facebook post on the band’s page announced that Winkler had left the band.

The winner of the German talent show Deutschland Sucht den Superstar in 2013, Swiss pop and Schlager artist Beatrice Egli had started singing at age 14. She had initially gained fame with her 2011 album Feuer und Flamme. Her Swiss chart-topping album Glücksgefühle also reached the second spot in Germany and Austria.

Best known as the lead vocalist of the Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie, Christian Oliver Glanzmann, or Chrigel Glanzmann, is also skilled in playing a number of instruments, such as the bagpipes, the mandola, the bodhrán, and the tin whistle. Glanzmann had first formed his band as a studio project.

Best known as part of the Swiss rock band Gotthard, Steve Lee was mostly a vocalist but was also skilled in the drums and the harmonica. He co-founded the band Krak, which eventually became Gotthard. He was killed in a freak motorcycle accident while on a biking trip in Nevada with his friends.

Swiss-born Albanian singer Ilira Gashi, better known as Ilira, was placed third, along with her band, on the show Die grosse Entscheidungs Show. She later moved to Berlin to explore her music career and created hits such as Fading. The Europe Music Award-nominated singer has now signed with Virgin and Universal.

Though Patrick Juvet had begun playing the piano at age 7, he also had a successful career as a model in Germany later. The Swiss disco singer is best remembered for his chartbusting track I Love America. Though openly bisexual, he also revealed in his memoir that he preferred men over women.

Swiss-born Greek singer-actor Panos Mouzourakis is best known for his roles in the Greek series S1ngles and 4. He had first gained attention with the play Acharnis, which toured around the globe. He has also lent his voice to the Greek version of the hit Disney animated film Frozen.

Swiss folk-pop-blues singer Sophie Hunger learned playing the piano as a child and was later introduced to jazz by her music-loving diplomat father. Known for albums such as Halluzinationen and Molecules, she has also won a Swiss Film Award for the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated film My Life as a Courgette.

Kurt Maloo initially attended business school but later focused on a career in conceptual art and painting. Born into a musical family, he performed with many local bands, too. He later soared to fame as part of the duo Double and with chartbusting hits such as The Captain of Her Heart.

After winning a talent search content on the show TV Total, Stefanie Heinzmann became a soul-pop sensation with award-winning hits such as My Man Is a Mean Man. She also performed as part of the rock band Bigfisch. Her debut album, Masterplan, topped music charts in Switzerland.

Carlos Leal is a Swiss actor and rapper. He is best known for co-founding a Hip hop group named Sens Unik, which contributed music to films like La Haine and Neutre. Carlos Leal decided to pursue an acting career in the late-1990s and trained under Jack Garfein in Paris. Since then, he has appeared in popular films like Casino Royale.

Widely known as the man who popularized French pop music, Alain Souchon explored both personal and political themes with his music. The 7-time Victoires de la musique award winner soared to fame with the phenomenal 1993 hit Foule sentimentale. He has also appeared in a few films.

Swiss-Croatian singer Bernarda Brunović, also known as Bernarda Bruno, first gained fame as the runner-up on Die grosse Entscheidungs Show. She later also made it to the semi-finals of season 8 of The Voice of Germany. Known for her tracks such as Colors and Here for Love, she is signed with Scardona.

The daughter of asset management pioneer Gilbert de Botton, Miel de Botton is not just a qualified clinical psychologist but also a talented singer and a generous philanthropist. She also has a law degree from Oxford and has had a 6-year stint as a family and drug-addiction therapist.