Jan Delay

Active in the music business since the 1990s, Jan Philipp Eißfeldt, alias Jan Delay, has covered many different genres over the course of his career. The artist has repeatedly collaborated with a wide variety of artists. He was born on August 25, 1976 in Hamburg. Already influenced as a child by the nasal vocals of his role model Udo Lindenberg, he initially joined the hip-hop crew Absolute Beginner as Eizi Eiz in early 1991. Together with the other members Dennis Lisk and Guido Weiß, the two albums Flashnizm (1996) and Bambule (1998) were released before the turn of the millennium. In 2001, Jan Delay released his solo debut Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels. The longplayer enters the album charts in German-speaking countries. Back alongside Dennis Lisk and Guido Weiß and with a new band name, Beginner, the number 1 album Blast Action Heroes is released in 2003. The album features Nina Hagen ("Wer bistn du?") and Max Herre ("God Is a Music"), two big names in the German pop business. After that, Jan Delay focuses more on his solo career. The first result: Mercedes-Dance, which was released in 2006. On it, Jan Delay shows his preference for orchestral music, funk and soul. The change of course is well received. The album reached number 3 in Austria, number 2 in Switzerland and the top of the charts in Germany. His next longplayer, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Soul, builds on the successful musical concept. Jan Delay once again achieved number 1 positions in the German and Swiss charts. Before Jan Delay released his fourth, much rockier studio album Hammel & Michel in 2014, he released an MTV Unplugged live album in 2012 in collaboration with his idol Udo Lindenberg. In 2016, Jan Delay and the rest of the Beginners celebrated their big comeback with Advanced Chemistry. The longplayer receives positive reviews and wins the critics' prize at the Echo Pop Awards in 2017. The album reaches number 1 in Germany and Austria. The band is honored for their lifetime achievement at the hiphop.de awards in 2016. In 2021, Jan Delay returns with the next LP: between funk and soul, Earth, Wind & Feiern invites you to dance again. The longplayer climbs to number 1 in Switzerland and reaches number 3 in both Austria and Germany. In 2024, Jan Delay releases his first compilation, Forever Jan. The best-of album reaches number 5 in Germany and number 9 in Switzerland.