Dschinghis Khan is a German Eurodisco band. It was originally formed in Munich in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. The original group consisted of six members: Louis Hendrik Potgieter, Edina Pop, Henriette Strobel, Wolfgang Heichel, Leslie Mándoki, and Steve Bender. Dschinghis Khan was managed by German producer Ralph Siegel and choreographed by Hannes Winkler, one of the most famous German choreographers during that time. Their original eponymopus song was written and produced by Siegel with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger and came in fourth place at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 in Jerusalem.
In 1979, the group released the singles “Dschinghis Khan” and “Moskau”. A year later, the English version of “Moskau” topped the charts in Australia for six weeks, largely thanks to Seven Network using the song as the theme music for coverage of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Following the success of the singles “Hadschi Halef Omar”, “Rom”, “Pistolero”, and “Loreley”, Dschinghis Khan underwent an image change, with their songs becoming more folk-oriented with their fourth album, Helden, Schurken & der Dudelmoser. As a result, their popularity waned. The group released their fifth album, Corrida, which served as the soundtrack to the musical of the same name by Siegel and Meinunger. After the release of the single “Mexico”, Dschinghis Khan disbanded in 1985.
Following Dschinghis Khan’s disbandment, the members took different paths. Mándoki became a successful musician and producer while Pop pursued a solo singing career and Bender worked as a music producer. The success of the band eventually led to Wolfgang and Henriette’s divorce in 1986, with Henriette reverting to her maiden name of Strobel. In 1986, the group reunited as “Dschinghis Khan Family”, but only with original members Strobel on vocals, Mándoki on drums, and Potgieter on keyboards. The song “Wir gehör’n zusammen” led them to a national qualifying round of the Eurovision Song Contest, where they finished in second place.
In December 2005, Dschinghis Khan reunited at the Retro FM Festival in Moscow, with founding members Bender, Pop, Heichel, and Strobel joined by new members Stefan Track, Kaya Ebru, and Daniel Käsling. In May 2006, Bender died of cancer. The song “Wie Feuer im Wind” on the group’s 2007 album 7 Leben was dedicated to both Potgieter and Bender. In 2006, Track left the group and started his own solo project called Rocking Son. In July, Strobel, Heichel, and Pop were joined by the dance group The Legacy of Dschinghis Khan in a concert in Mongolia. The dance group consisted of Claus Kupreit, Corinna Günzel, Benjamin Schobel, Evi Weigand, Stefan Sauter, and Angelika Nimbach; Kurpreit would go on to become a permanent member of Dschinghis Khan. In 2014, Heichel left the group due to creative differences.
In 2018, Dschinghis Khan re-recorded “Moskau” with new lyrics for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in Russia. For the German and English versions, the lead vocals were performed by former US5 member Jay Khan. Alexander Malinin and his daughter Ustinya performed the Russian version, titled “Moskva”. The Spanish version, titled “Moscú”, was performed by Jorge Jiménez and Marifer Medrano. At the same time, Heichel teamed up with Track to record the song “We Love Football”. It was revealed that Heichel gained the rights to the Dschinghis Khan name in Germany and Spain. Strobel, Pop, Kupreit, and producer Heinz Gross also own the rights to the name Dschinghis Khan, with both group patents revealing the use of their own logos. As a result, there are two disco groups operating under the name Dschinghis Khan.
