The 70-year-old pop warrior Dieter Bohlen has profitably polished his song “Cheri, Cheri Lady” with the influencer Twenty4Tim (23). The collaboration represents a larger trend.
If you squint your eyes and imagine adding a little more hair to your head, you could easily believe in a miracle. In the new video for “Cheri, Cheri Lady” a young man sits next to Dieter Bohlen, who, with a little imagination, certainly resembles the former Thomas Anders – shiny, strong complexion, dazzling white teeth, youthful face. Only the hair is shorter.
Before pop nostalgics burst into cheers and Bohlen skeptics become distraught: No, Modern Talking, the music duo made up of Bohlen and Anders that imploded in an argument, is not reunited. The “pop titan” has a new guy at his side who sings the hit that he first hit the charts with Anders in the 80s: influencer Twenty4Tim. The Cologne native has 2.7 million Instagram followers and an incredible 4.9 million TikTok followers.
Re-recording of “Cheri, Cheri Lady”
The new recording of “Cheri, Cheri Lady” by the team, who have an age difference of almost 50 years, is the latest manifestation of a phenomenon that seems to have spread throughout the German music world. Recently, hits have often been generational projects. Older or more established artists work together with younger newcomers or currently popular musicians. The result is chart success.
The meeting between old rocker Udo Lindenberg and rapper Apache 207 can be seen as the gold standard of this new “Age Gap” genre. The unlikely duo, who are separated by around 50 years of life, flew to the top of the annual charts in 2023 with “Komet”. For Lindenberg, at the tender age of 76, it was the first number one hit of his career.
Otto Waalkes with Ski Aggu and Joost
Shortly afterwards, the no less dazzling combination of old comedian Otto Waalkes (75) and the two rappers Ski Aggu and Joost followed. One would not offend Waalkes if one assumes that younger generations would probably only think of the word “Holladihiti” when asked about his truly documented life’s achievements. In 2023, however, he gave Ski Aggu and Joost permission to adapt his 1993 song “Friesenjung” into a dance version – a success. “It is the highest single placement ever for comedian Otto Waalkes,” the chart investigators reported in the summer of 2023. Holladi-Hit-i!
“I would say that it has increased – not just in Germany. There was also the collaboration between Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett,” says music professor Barbara Hornberger from the University of Wuppertal. Apparently there is an intergenerational movement. “It’s happened many times before that well-known titles are remixed or covered. But usually the original stars didn’t appear in person. That’s different now.”
You help each other
The question that looms over such projects is who actually benefits from whom. The older ones who can once again turn their old hits or their well-known names into money thanks to a fresh cell treatment from the TikTok generation? Or the young people who use the celebrity status of older people, often built up in the analogue age, to reach an audience that lies beyond their own, sometimes very manageable bubble?
Or is it – hello pathos – in the end all of us, because in a society suffering from generational conflicts (“You Boomer!”) bridges are finally being built?
The range increases significantly
“In a certain way, those involved in such collaborations ennoble each other. This also increases each other’s reach,” says scientist Hornberger. It is particularly interesting for older artists whose importance – to put it disrespectfully – today is based on the fact that they are simply still there. The so-called legends. “But when they bow down to a younger artist and a younger genre, then that changes. Then you’re no longer just the grandpa who used to have a hit. But the guy who still has something hip to offer today,” said Hornberger. In addition, one should not forget how tough the music business is. “Economically it just makes sense because it can reach more audiences,” she says.
Helene Fischer, Germany’s biggest music star and always where success is, released her hit “Atemlos” again a few months ago, now with rapper Shirin David. The two women are only about ten years apart, but they feel worlds apart. Dieter Bohlen, who also always keeps an ear to the music market, has even become active on several occasions. Five years ago, for example, he released a new version of “Cheri, Cheri Lady”, back then with the Berlin rapper Capital Bra.
Heino together with rapper Tream
Folk musician Heino has recently been successful alongside the rapper Tream, has recorded a song with him (“Anna”) and gave an interesting interview about it (“Heino crowns a rapper as his successor!”, “Bild”).
The work “Pech & Sulfur”, which pop rocker Matthias Reim (“Damn, I love you”) recorded with the rapper Finch, takes a similar approach. In the accompanying material you can see Reim on a motorcycle – and Finch in the sidecar. A captivating symbolism.
Former Puhdys singer “Machine” sings with Nessi
The ex-Puhdys singer Dieter Birr – called “Machine”, 80 years old and one of the most successful musicians with GDR roots – also sang the old Puhdys hit “Das Buch” again with singer Nessi (34) at the age of 80 .
Against this background, the collaboration between rapper Bushido and pop singer Karel Gott, who died in 2019, seems almost prophetic. They recorded the song “Forever Young” together in 2008. In it, God languished with his “golden voice from Prague” the line: “Forever young, forever young for a lifetime.” It’s the state that every music star would like to have.