Leony German Singer Born 1997 in Chammünster

Early life

Leony was born Leonie Burger on 25 June 1997 in Chammünster, Germany. She is a singer-songwriter who works mainly in pop. Her first public exposure came through television. She took part in the German talent programme Rising Star in 2014 as a member of a trio called Unknown Passenger, alongside Julian Vogl and Maximillian Böhle. The group performed a version of "Stay" in the finale and received 92.77 percent of the audience vote. Through the programme she met Nik Hafermann, who became her first manager. The band played some smaller club dates and then broke up, after which she continued alone under a slightly altered spelling of her first name.

Career

In 2016 Leony signed a deal with Sony Music in Australia and spent time on vocal coaching. Her first songs were produced in Sweden, and her debut single, "Surrender", came out in 2017. It was used in an underwear advertisement for the television personality Sylvie Meis. "Boots" followed in 2018 and "More Than Friends" in 2019.

In 2020 she changed management and production teams, working with Vitali Zestovskih and Mark Becker. That year she released "Far Away from Home" with the DJ duo Vize and Sam Feldt. Her breakthrough came in July 2020 with a new version of the Modern Talking song "Brother Louie", made with Vize, the Kazakh artist Imanbek and Dieter Bohlen, a former member of Modern Talking. In 2021 she released "Faded Love", which is listed as one of her notable works.

"Remedy" followed in 2022, and her album Somewhere in Between appeared in 2023. She released the single "Fire" in 2024. Her releases are listed under the label Kontor Records, and her catalogue is classified as pop music.

Alongside her recordings she has become a regular on German television. In 2022 she served as a music mentor to the contestant Emilia on Dein Song, a music competition broadcast by ZDF. In 2023 she was a judge on the twentieth season of the talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar. She took part as a contestant in the entertainment programme Schlag den Star in 2024 and was a guest coach on The Voice Kids the same year. In 2026 she returned to The Voice Kids as a full coach for its fourteenth season.

In March 2024 she was confirmed as a contributor to the official song for UEFA Euro 2024, joining OneRepublic and Meduza. She replaced Kim Petras, who could not take part because of scheduling issues.

Recognition

Leony received the New Music Award in the category "Durchstarter/in des Jahres", a prize for up-and-coming artists, in 2021. She has also been nominated for several 1 Live Krone awards. In 2021 she was nominated for Best Dance Act and for Best Single for "Faded Love". In 2022 she was nominated for Best Female Artist and for Best Song of the Year for "Remedy". A further nomination that year, in the hip-hop and R&B song category, was for her track "Follow". She also appeared among the nominees at the New Faces Awards in 2021 in the music category.

Personal life

Leony lives in Berlin.