Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu
Birth nameMihai Crețu
Born (1957-05-18) 18 May 1957 (age 67)
Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboard
  • piano
  • guitar
  • drums
Years active1976–present
Labels
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 2007)​
Websiteenigmaspace.com

Michael Cretu (Romanian: Mihai Crețu, pronounced [miˈhaj ˈkretsu]; born 18 May 1957) is a Romanian-born German musician, composer and record producer.[1] He gained worldwide fame as the founder and musician behind the musical project Enigma, which he formed in 1990.

Cretu began a music career in 1976 as a solo artist and released numerous studio albums as well as writing and producing albums for his then-wife, German pop singer Sandra. He also worked with artists through the 1980s, including Peter Cornelius, Hubert Kah, and Mike Oldfield.[2] Cretu was sometimes identified as "Curly" or "Curly M.C.", in reference to his curly hair and creț meaning "curly" in Romanian.[3]

Cretu scored an unexpected worldwide commercial hit with the debut Enigma album MCMXC a.D. (1990), helped by its lead single, "Sadeness (Part I)". Cretu continues to produce Enigma albums and singles; the most recent is The Fall of a Rebel Angel (2016), its eighth overall. Enigma has sold an estimated 70 million albums worldwide,[4] Cretu's management company Crocodile-Music stated that Cretu's produced recordings have sold 100 million copies worldwide.[5]

  1. ^ "MICHAEL CRETU: "Mich kennt keiner"". FOCUS Online. 14 March 1994. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  2. ^ LLC, Books (1 May 2010). Enigma Members: Sandra, Michael Cretu, Andru Donalds, Ruth-Ann Boyle, Frank Peterson, Jens Gad. General Books LLC. ISBN 9781155181066. Retrieved 18 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Enigma". www.michaelcretu.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Enigma announce first album in 8 years". Ew.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  5. ^ "ENIGMA : Biographie – english Biography / Crocodile-Music Management & Publishing". Crocodile-music.de. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2012.