Cascada


Cascada is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles "Everytime We Touch", "What Hurts the Most", "Evacuate the Dancefloor", and "Miracle". Cascada have sold over 30 million albums worldwide in addition to an estimated 15 million digital downloads. Cascada represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden with "Glorious".
While being one of the most successful acts of the dance music genre itself, Cascada was named the 3rd most successful German act of the 21st century.
In 2010, Cascada's music was the most downloaded of all time in the dance category after David Guetta.
In 2018, Cascada had more than a billion views on YouTube including over 100 million views for their hit "Everytime We Touch".

Music career

2004–2005: Early career

When Natalie Horler was 17, she was doing studio work for various DJs. Eventually, she met Yanou and DJ Manian. Originally, they released music under the name Cascade, but due to Kaskade, another artist with a similar name, threatening legal action, they changed it to Cascada. They simultaneously released music under the names of Siria, 3XM, Phalanx, Manyou, Scarf! and Akira as well but ended those projects due to the success of Cascada. Under Andorfine Records, they produced their debut and hit single, "Miracle", and its follow-up, "Bad Boy", in Germany. This caught the attention of the American dance label Robbins Entertainment. They negotiated a contract and "Miracle" was released in 2004. However, it did not attract much attention, so Cascada offered them "Everytime We Touch".

2005–2007: ''Everytime We Touch''

Cascada experienced mainstream success in the United Kingdom and the United States almost a year after releasing their second American single, "Everytime We Touch", which interpolates the chorus of a 1992 Maggie Reilly song of the same name. The song gained platinum and gold certifications across the globe, being certified platinum by the RIAA. Soon after the popularity of the single skyrocketed, an album was recorded and released in a matter of months, and a music video for "Everytime We Touch" was also distributed for promotion.
A total of seven singles were released from the album, four of which have been released in the United Kingdom: "Everytime We Touch", "Truly Madly Deeply", "Miracle" and "A Neverending Dream" , all of which gained top 10 status apart from "A Neverending Dream", which charted at #46. The U.S. saw the re-release of "Miracle" shortly after "Everytime We Touch"'s breakthrough, receiving high radio rotation and reaching the lower ends of the U.S. charts. Their album Everytime We Touch has experienced success in the UK Album chart where it remained up in the top forty for twenty-four weeks, peaking at #2. The album experienced success on the U.S. charts as well. The success of the album gained them two World Music Award nominations, winning the World's Best-Selling German Artist. Additionally, the album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

2007–2009: ''Perfect Day''

Horler first announced that Cascada were working on their second album during a Japanese interview, which was posted on their blog on MySpace. There are a few cover songs on the album, most notably Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi", P!nk's "Just Like A Pill", Patti Smith's "Because the Night" and the Jeffrey Steele song "What Hurts the Most", as well as two tracks, "Endless Summer" and "I Will Believe It", that were previously recorded by Horler and DJ Manian under the discontinued Siria name. However, the U.S. release replaced the Siria songs, P!nk, and Avril Lavigne covers with three newer tracks, because they did not have the North American rights. Two of these songs were "Faded", a cover of a Kate DeAraugo song, and "Holiday", a cover of a Jenny May song. The second album was released at the end of 2007 in the UK, and several parts of Northern Europe. Perfect Day was released to the remaining markets, in the first quarter of 2008, with the U.S. release being the last. Horler also stated in a French interview, before the release, that she would take a hand in writing parts of the album; however, she did not write any of the final tracks on the album.
The worldwide lead single, "What Hurts the Most", was released in late 2007 and early 2008, along with its B-side, a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas". The single had high success, reaching the top ten in most countries. The U.K. and German follow-up to "What Hurts the Most", is "What Do You Want From Me?", originally thought to be called "Tell Me Why". The third release from the album in the UK and Germany was "Because the Night". The United States instead received both "Faded" and "Perfect Day" as singles, however each of these releases received little airplay outside of the dance-radio circuit.

2009–2010: ''Evacuate the Dancefloor''

On 29 June 2009, "Evacuate the Dancefloor" was released in the UK. The release, just four days after the death of Michael Jackson, was expected to chart below Jackson's old hits, which sold heavily after his death. Instead, it debuted at No. 1, above Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The song went on to the top five in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand, as well as top ten in many more. The song was released in the U.S. in late September release, and peaked at 25 in seventeen weeks, making it the group's second top-forty hit.
The song has become a club staple, used in many dance-oriented video games, and even nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. The album, also named Evacuate the Dancefloor, was released a week later on 6 July in the UK and Germany. The album continued Cascada's progression into electro-pop, the change was welcomed by mainstream audiences and fans, yet many fans still remorsed the euro-pop feel, which some felt was integral to the Cascada project. The album itself did not mirror the success of the single, yet it did chart in the top ten of many territories, including the UK where it went on to sell 100,000 copies. "Dangerous" and "Fever" were follow-up singles released from the album, the former in the UK, and the latter in the US, Australia, and the rest of Europe, neither experiencing success in terms of radio spins, digital, or physical sales. Nevertheless, the group toured extensively to promote the album, even opening for Britney Spears during a stop in Germany.

2010–2011: ''Original Me''

A new single "Pyromania" was released in 2010, continuing their new electropop sound. A second single, "Night Nurse", was released along with a music video featuring Horler in full body paint of various colors in many scenes. This single was never actually released until a year later on 16 December 2011 when it got an exclusive release in the U.S.
On the weekend of 26 March, Cascada shot two music videos for the upcoming singles "San Francisco" and "Au Revoir". Both videos were directed by Lisa Mann and choreographed by Luther Brown, and both singles were featured on the album Original Me which was released on 20 June 2011, and 29 November 2011 in the US.
After the release of the album, Horler posed for Playboy Deutschland in July 2011, to mixed reactions from fans and critics. On 1 September 2011, US label Robbins Entertainment announced on their message board that Cascada and Robbins have amicably parted ways, and Cascada were released from the label, citing creative differences as the reason for their departure. It was also announced that Original Me would still be released, under their Zooland label.

2012–2013: ''The Best of Cascada'', Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and ''Acoustic Sessions''

On 7 January 2012, Horler joined the judging panel of season 9 of German singing contest Deutschland sucht den Superstar. On 16 March 2012, the music video for "Summer of Love" premiered in Germany. and was released on 30 March followed by the compilation album titled Back on the Dancefloor.
On 24 May 2012, Horler posted a video blog, announcing that they were getting ready to release the next single. In early June, a video clip of Horler performing a cover of Corona's "The Rhythm of the Night" surfaced online. "The Rhythm of the Night" was released on 22 June 2012 in Germany and in the USA, with the music video for the song premiering on Cascada's Facebook page on the same day as the release.
On 12 November 2012, Horler announced via Facebook that their long-awaited Christmas Album would be released and would feature her uncle, David Horler, playing the trombone on two of the tracks. On 30 November 2012, the album It's Christmas Time was released digitally via Zooland Records, and features 11 well known Christmas songs, including a cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas", as well as the brand new track "Somewhere At Christmas Time" written especially for the album.
On 17 December 2012, the north German regional broadcaster NDR announced that Cascada would take part in the German national final Unser Song für Malmö for a chance to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with their single "Glorious". Cascada won the German national final which was held on 14 February 2013 in Hannover, and went on to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. On 18 May 2013, Cascada's "Glorious" earned 18 points in the Eurovision Final, putting them in 21st place.
On 8 February 2013, Cascada released the single "Glorious" followed by the release of their second greatest hits album, The Best of Cascada, on 29 March 2013. After the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, Cascada released a second single "The World is in My Hands" on 2 Aug. They also returned to the studio to work on their promised acoustic album which was released as Acoustic Sessions on 1 November 2013. The album features acoustic versions of past hits from the band as well as a few covers of other songs. The most notable cover version was "You" performed by both Natalie and Robin Stjernberg.

2014–present: Focus on touring and new singles

On 12 December 2013, German DJ/producer CJ Stone revealed that he was working on a remix for the latest Cascada release. He shared with eager fans that the single is titled "Blink" and would be released in early 2014. On 10 January 2014, Natalie posted on Facebook that they were busy planning the music video for the new single. "Blink" was released on 28 March in Germany with the video premier on the same day. The track was originally recorded by pop group U.V.U.K. In April 2014, "Blink" was released in Australia and France, and also began receiving airplay in the UK. Eventually, "Blink" was released in the UK as track on a Clubland compilation. Robbins Entertainment also announced that they would release "Blink" in the United States.
A recent interview with Natalie confirmed that the group currently has no plans to release a 5th studio album just yet, however, Natalie did mention that they will be back in the studio very soon to work on the next single.
On 7 September 2014, Cascada revealed that the new single, "Madness" featuring Manchester-based rapper Tristan 'Tris' Henry, will be released 26 September. A few days later, the artwork for the single was posted on Facebook. Madness was released on iTunes on 26 September worldwide. A video for "Madness" premiered on YouTube on 30 September.
After teasing fans with news of a new single and video shoot, Natalie confirmed via Facebook that they will be releasing a re-work of "Reason", which was released on 20 February 2015. The track was originally released in 2004, under their previous alias 'Diamond', which was one of many side projects Natalie, Manian and Yanou were involved in before they were successful with Cascada. The video was shot in Mallorca, Spain and premiered on 20 February 2015.
On 28 May 2015, it was announced that Natalie would be taking a short break due to her pregnancy. All upcoming shows were canceled, and fans were rest-assured that new music was "in the works", with Natalie posting several times during the summer that she was in the studio. In September 2015, Natalie gave birth to her daughter Jamie.
Natalie returned to the stage in December 2015, with upcoming shows in Norway, Austria, Germany and the UK where she will also be performing at London's G-A-Y on New Year's Eve along with The X Factor contestant Fleur East.
For the better part of 2016, Natalie had been busy touring parts of Norway and the United Kingdom. There had been no official statement regarding a new album or single, but Natalie has been in the studio working with Yanou on new material. Brazilian producer Cassiano collaborated with Cascada on a song called "Praise You", which is a cover of Shackles by Mary Mary. It was released on 10 June 2016. In a recent interview with Eurovision Deutschland, Natalie mentioned that two new singles are coming soon, and that they are preparing to shoot a new music video. She also stated that they are focusing on individual singles and touring at the moment.
After a two-year break from releasing music, Cascada released a new single "Run" on 27 January 2017. During a recent interview, Natalie stated that they plan to release singles instead of a full album, and they already have a new song lined up to be released in the next few months. On 20 April, Cascada released their new single "Playground", the official song of the 2017 Ice Hockey World Championship held in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. Natalie Horler performed her single on 4 May 2017 for the opening ceremony and the single was to be announced as an international success. However, the lack of promotion following this event contributed to a new commercial failure.
A new single entitled "Back For Good" was released on 20 July 2018. In a collaboration with DJs Hardwell and Maurice West, a remix of "Everytime We Touch" was officially released on 6 August 2018.
Speculation of a new single surfaced in July 2019. 'Like the Way I Do' was released on 16 August with an accompanying music video. A ballad version titled "Yanou's Candlelight Mix" was released 6 March 2020.

Discography

Studio albums
YearAwardsCategoryNominated workResult
2006International Dance Music AwardsBest New Dance Artist SoloWon
2006International Dance Music AwardsBest High Energy/Euro TrackEverytime We TouchNominated
2006Napster AwardsMost-Played Dance/Electronic RecordingEverytime We TouchWon
2007World Music AwardsWorld's Best Selling Female Pop ArtistNominated
2007World Music AwardsBest-Selling German Artist AwardWon
2008European Border Breakers Award Best European Border Breaker- GermanyEverytime We TouchWon
2008International Dance Music AwardsBest High Energy/ Euro TrackTruly, Madly, DeeplyNominated
2008International Dance Music AwardsBest Dance Artist Nominated
2009International Dance Music AwardsBest Dance Artist Won
2010International Dance Music AwardsBest High Energy/Euro TrackEvacuate the DancefloorNominated
2010International Dance Music AwardsBest Pop Dance TrackEvacuate the DancefloorNominated
2010International Dance Music AwardsBest Artist Won
2010CometBest Female ArtistEvacuate the DancefloorWon
2010Urban Music AwardsBest Dance ActWon
2010MTV Video Music AwardsBest Dance Music VideoEvacuate the DancefloorNominated
2011International Dance Music AwardsBest Commercial Dance TrackPyromania
Nominated
2011----