Jennifer Rush

Jennifer Rush (born September 28, 1960) is an American/German-based pop/rock singer, best known for the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which she co-wrote and which went on to be covered by Laura Branigan and Celine Dion.

Born Heidi Stern, in Queens, New York, she spent her childhood in both New York and Bavaria. It was in Flensburg, Germany that she first discovered her passion for music. She recorded her first album Heidi Stern in 1979, but it did not get much attention. Trying to establish her career as a singer, in 1982 she moved back to Wiesbaden, Germany with her father Maurice Stern, an opera singer. Over the next several years she scored hits around Europe with songs "25 Lovers", "Flames of Paradise", "Ring of Ice", "Destiny", "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love", "I Come Undone" and "Madonna's Eyes".

Jennifer's mother Barbara was a pianist, and her brothers are musicians Bobby Stern and Stephen Stern. In 2010, Jennifer revealed that she adopted her artist name "Jennifer" upon the insistence of her record company, CBS, who felt Heidi did not sound international enough.

Her single "The Power Of Love" was the biggest hit of 1985 in the United Kingdom, (as well as becoming a significant hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden) and was listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as "the best-selling single by a female solo artist in the history of the British music industry". It held that status until 1992, when it was outsold by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". "The Power of Love" topped the charts for more than eight weeks in Australia, South Africa and numerous European countries. Number one in several countries, Rush's version reached only number 57 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. After several cover versions by other artists, the Celine Dion version made a U.S. chart impact in 1994.

Rush remained successful in Europe and notably in Germany where her next two albums reached number 1 for 14 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. In the UK however, her chart career saw only a few sporadic bursts of success.

It was Rush's 1987 album Heart Over Mind, featuring compositions by Desmond Child and Michael Bolton and guitar work from Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), that finally brought her Top 40 success in her home country, with the Elton John duet "Flames of Paradise". She also recorded duets with Michael Bolton, Plácido Domingo and Brian May.

While she continued to achieve platinum and multi-platinum sales of albums and singles in both English and Spanish, recognition eluded her in her home country. Rush built on her success through the 1990s in Europe (again, especially in Germany), releasing four albums, the last being 1998's Classics (along with new songs, re-recording her biggest hits with the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra). After that she took some time off in New York, dedicating time to her daughter. A series of greatest hits compilation albums followed in the new millennium.