***Sandra Ann Lauer (born 18 May 1962 in Saarbrcken), professionally known as Sandra, is a German pop singer who became popular in the 1980s with the help of Michael Cretu to whom she was married from 1988 until 2007. The two met when Sandra was part of a group named Arabesque which saw some success, especially in Japan. She is currently living in Ibiza, Spain. After enjoying success as lead singer of the disco trio Arabesque, Sandra began performing under her own solo name, releasing her first international #1 hit "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" in 1985.In 1979 Sandra joined Arabesque, a disco group consisting of Michaela Rose and Jasmine Vetter. Soon after that they recorded their second album with Sandra on lead vocals at Europasound Studios in Offenbach. The studio was owned by famous producer Frank Farian, the creator of Boney M, and later Milli Vanilli. One of the musicians there was a keyboardist named Michael Cretu. Sandra and Michael found that they shared the same birthday, albeit five years apart, and became good friends. With Arabesque a new period in Sandra's life began. For the first time, she was away from her family, appearing on stage and TV in foreign countries, giving interviews, photo shoots and singing at concerts. Arabesque became successful, and by Sandra's nineteenth birthday she was a star. Arabesque were particularly popular in Japan dominating the charts, and their outrageous, sometimes daring costumes, dance routines and cheerful music suggested a fun alternative to ABBA and Boney M. They enjoyed success in several other countries and scored a Top 10 hit in Germany with "Marigot Bay" in 1981. After nine albums, differences in musical interests and the end of disco's popularity signalled the group's final breakup. Sandra and Michael Cretu, romantically involved, moved to Munich, where Michael soon created his own studio, called Data-Alpha, after a song from his solo album Legionre. Their first single together was 1984's "Japan Ist Weit", a German cover of the Alphaville song "Big in Japan", an appropriate way to describe Sandra's fame up to that point. However, the song failed to enter any of the charts.***