Anne Rani
Living the dream
Q: Can you share a few memories about your early life in Denmark – and how being adopted from Sri Lanka shaped your identity and artistic vision?
A: I grew up in Denmark and was adopted from Welcome House in Panadura at the age of about eight months although I don’t know my exact date of birth.
I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood playing music. This began with me playing piano at six. I started singing when I was 14.
Thereafter, I was in and out of bands until I received a magical phone call from an A&R (artists and repertoire) representative from EMI Music – a major record label – who had heard my demo tape.
Not long after, one of the first, and biggest and most successful girl groups from Denmark was signed, and my journey to becoming an international pop star began. We were together for five years, releasing two albums – namely Something to Feel and Can We Get Personal?
I’m grateful to have had this experience at such a young age. I got to perform on the biggest stages around the world including Wembley Arena in London, Rotterdam Ahoy and the Stockholm Globe Arena in Sweden to name a few. This shaped me as an artiste in the music industry.
Q: Who were your main musical influences growing up in Denmark – and how did they inspire you to pursue a career in music?
A: Without a doubt, my biggest idol as a teenager was Prince – an incredible artiste, musician and singer. I bought all his records.
And of course, for female singers, I consider Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to be among the world’s greatest vocalists.
Q: When did you realise that music is your true passion – and you wanted to pursue it as a career?
A: I was about six years old and watched a concert with Madonna on TV. From that moment, I dreamt about becoming a pop star one day: I wanted to play music, and be a musician and perform.
Q: Looking back on your diverse career, what has been the most notable highlight?
A: One of the biggest highlights of my music career took place last year as I had the opportunity to perform with Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and Andy Taylor from Duran Duran.
I met Taylor in Ibiza where I’ve lived for the past 15 years. He needed a backing singer for the recording of his album and I got the job. He’s such an amazing artiste; I love working with him.
Last year, Taylor called me and said he was doing a gig at Soho Farmhouse in the UK for the Cancer Platform as he’s been battling Stage 4 cancer.
To my surprise, I learnt that Plant would be joining us as well. He hadn’t wanted to perform his hits for some 16 years but according to Plant, we would be joining him for what would be his last time performing Stairway to Heaven. The show can be viewed on YouTube.
This was undoubtedly a mind-blowing experience for me and one of the biggest highlights that I’m most proud of having experienced in my career.
Q: And finally, what are you working on now?
A: I’m about to release new music and a single called Shanti, which I’m very excited about.
And I’ll also be making my debut as a DJ as I’ve been asked to play. After spending all these years in Ibiza, I will have the pleasure of sharing the good music that I love.
I would love to perform in Sri Lanka and hope that I’ll have the opportunity to do so one day.
FACT FILE
FAMILY
Adopted from Sri Lanka by Danish parents
PRESENT OCCUPATIONS
Singer
Actress
DJ
AWARDS AND HIGHLIGHTS
Songwriting collaboration for Danish hip-hop artiste MC Clemens
Danish National Radio award hit of the year for best song
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE
Spain
CITY OF RESIDENCE
Ibiza
CV IN A NUTSHELL
Anne Rani is a Sri Lanka-born Danish singer, actress and DJ. Rani’s rise to fame came during her time with a popular Danish girl group in the 1990s.
The pop star’s career has included performances on grand stages such as the Wembley Arena and Stockholm Globe Arena, as well as with Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
In addition to working on new music, Rani also hopes to perform in Sri Lanka someday.