Schlager and the Germans
▻https://40percentgerman.com/home/2020/8/28/schlager-and-the-germans-mma3l
In 2018, Forbes published its annual list of the highest paid women in music. Among the familiar names of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift was Helene Fischer of Germany, coming in at number 8 and earning a cool $32 million on the back of an enormously successful tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Fans across Europe would surely not be surprised to see “The Queen of Schlager” appearing on the list, however English-speaking commentators were left with two questions: Who is Helene Fischer and what on earth is Schlager?
The first of those questions is the easier to answer; Helene Fischer is one of the most successful German recording artists of all time, having achieved the best-selling album in Germany five times and winning numerous awards over the last decade. Despite this success, few people in the English-speaking world know her name, mainly because Fischer’s music is in German. Aside from collaborations with Michael Bolton and Robbie Williams, Fischer has only made one English language album titled The English Ones (2010).