German singer Anna-Maria Zimmermann was born in Gütersloh on December 14, 1988. At the age of five, she took part in the Mini Playback Show, where she performed Stefanie Hertel's song "Oma, Du Verstehst Mich Nich." In 2006, she became a contestant in the third season of the casting show Deutschland Sucht den Superstar, but only managed to make sixth place. She released her debut single, "Der Erste Kuss" (a collaboration with the band Jojos), in 2007 and signed with Universal one year later. Her second single, "Wer Ist Dieser DJ?," charted at number 66. Signing with EMI in 2009, she released a few more singles, including "1000 Träume Weit (Tornerò)," which reached number 68 in the German charts, and the Milva cover "Hurra Wir Leben Noch," which reached number 79. In October 2010, a few months before the release of her debut album Einfach Anna!, Zimmermann, her manager, and an assistant were in a helicopter accident while on their way to collect the Ballermann Award. All passengers and the pilot suffered severe injuries, and Zimmermann was left in a coma for 18 days. Luckily, she fully recovered. Einfach Anna! was released in December 2010, but even though the lead single "Frei Sein" entered at number 69, the album itself failed to chart. After a period of convalescence, Zimmermann returned to the stage in June 2011. In early 2012, she released her second solo album, Hautnah, which entered the charts at number 47 and yielded the singles "Leben" and "Mit Dir." ~ Christian Genzel