Stephan Eicher

Stephan Eicher (born 17 August 1960) is a Swiss singer. He sings in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss German, and Romanche, sometimes using different languages in the same song.
Eicher's success started in German-speaking countries in the 1980s when, as part of the band Grauzone, he had a hit single, "Eisbär". With hit songs such as "Combien de Temps" and "Oh Ironie", his popularity spread across Europe with albums, tours, and chart success in France and Switzerland.
Life.
Stephan Eicher was born in the rural municipality of Münchenbuchsee not far from Bern. 
Eicher was educated at the Ecole D'Humanité, an international boarding school in Switzerland, and musically trained at the academy of art in Zürich, where he learned how to use the computer for composing music.
He released his first single "Eisbär", together with his brother Martin, on the album "Grauzone" in 1980. He became interested in French songs by Jacques Dutronc, Georges Brassens, and Serge Gainsbourg, and these influences led to the album "Les Chansons Bleues". This album is also inspired by the American singers he listened to during his youth, such as Patti Smith, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan.
His two subsequent albums began to establish his reputation. The album, "I Tell This Night," and the single "Two People in a Room" were released in 1985. It peaked on the Swiss charts at number ten and stayed twelve weeks. Two years later, the album "Silence" reached number three and was in the Swiss Top 10 for fourteen weeks. Both albums were created by Stephan Eicher almost single-handedly.
1989's "My Place" went in a different direction. The French lyrics were written by his friend, author Philippe Djian. His largest commercial success came in 1991 with the album "Engelberg", which spent five weeks at number one in Switzerland and 46 weeks on the charts in total. The song "Dejeuner En Paix" was also number two in France. It is the beginning of a collaboration with Manu Katché and Pino Palladino which lasted until the release of "1000 vies" in 1996. His subsequent albums regularly reached the top five on the Swiss album charts.
Following a world tour, which included concerts in Africa, he produced his first live album in 1994 (Non ci badar, guarda e passa).
Since 1989, his song lyrics have been written by Djian.
In 2001, Eicher released his first greatest hits compilation album entitled "Hotel*s". For many years, the hotel Hess on the Swiss Engelberg was his second home. Martin Hess, the hotelier couple's son, became his close friend and producer. At the hotel, the albums "Engelberg" and "Louanges" developed. Eicher selected the title "Hotel*s" as homage to this grand hotel, which was torn down in the same year. For the title selection for the album, he let the fans co-ordinate with the official homepage.
Cover versions of his songs.
Singer Sian Charia recorded a cover version of Eicher's "Pas d'ami" (translated into Khmer) in Phnom Penh in 1995.
German progressive metal band Vanden Plas covered "Des Hauts, des Bas" on their AcCult EP in 1996.
His song "Combien de Temps" has been remixed by Flood.
Experimental electronic music group Cabaret Voltaire recorded a cover version of Eicher's "No Escape." Originally written by [The Seeds (band)|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seeds]
The metalband Stahlhammer released a cover version of "Eisbär" on their album "Eisenherz".
On the newer edition of the album "Wahrheit oder Pflicht" by Oomph! a cover version of "Eisbär" is included as a bonus track.
German industrial metal band Eisbrecher included a cover version of Eisbär in their 2017 album Sturmfahrt.