Yanou

Yanou Biography



In 2004 the story of success began when Yanou invited Natalie Horler to front his first international project Cascada. After less than one and a half years they found international fame with their huge debut hit Everytime We Touch. A smash in the States (Billboards 7), the song quickly caught on across the globe, followed by a multi-platinum selling album of the same title. It spawned eight singles, including the massive Miracle. Together with his production partner Manuel Reuter, the third member of Cascada, Yanou founded Zooland Records, which has become one of Germany’s most successful Independents in a flash. Yanou has succeeded in writing and producing a string of hits for several successful artists, most notably for Cascada and R.I.O. Among his most popular singles are Cascada’s Evacuate the Dancefloor (1 in GB in 2009), Miracle (1 in France in 2004) and R.I.O.’s Shine On (20 in Europe and 10 in the Middle-East in 2009) and many more. In 2007 he was honoured by winning the World Music Award in Monte Carlo for Cascada being the best selling German artist.Yanou’s first time standing high in the US Billboard Charts was back in 2001, when he produced his first own Top Ten hit Heaven (by DJ Sammy and Yanou feat. Do). It became a worldwide 1 hit and also won, beside other honours, the US Dance Star Award (Miami) in 2002 as well as the International Boarderbreaker Award (Cannes).

Around the success of Heaven, Yanou made a trip into pop music and produced the Dutch Idols as well as Dutch superstar Do, which brought him another two golden records.



Weiler/Germany native Yanou was born Yann Peifer on March 6, 1974. He grew up sharing his interest in music with neighbourhood friends. As a teen, he improved his piano and guitar skills. In the early nineties he studied classical music in Koblenz/Germany and became part of a wedding-singer band. "The early days were tough but invaluable," Yanou remembers, “for many years we did all kinds of gigs all over Germany.“ The money he earned enabled him to buy - step by step - all the necessary equipment for the studio where he spent all his free time honing his producer skills. During the late nineties, Yanou started his professional career and made a name as a popular remixer for a vast number of acts and tracks in the international dance and hands-up scene.