AnnaGrace, formerly known as the lead singer for Ian Van Dahl, was a Belgian progressive house, electro house, and deep house music project fronted by Belgian singer Annemie Coenen and produced by DJ and record producer Peter Luts. The project first achieved success in 2008 with the hit singles “You Make Me Feel,” “Let the Feelings Go,” “Love Keeps Calling” and the 2010 debut AnnaGrace album Ready to Dare.[1][2] Today, Coenen continues to tour worldwide as AnnaGrace and Ian Van Dahl performing her biggest house and trance hits.[3]
The project’s first single was “Castles in the Sky”, with lyrics written and vocals performed by Martine Theeuwen (a.k.a. Marsha). Without Theeuwen’s knowledge or consent, Cindy Mertens was hired to lip-synch to her vocals onstage. Since she was not allowed to perform the song herself, Theeuwen felt betrayed and left the project.[4][5]
Subsequently they were both replaced, as Annemie Coenen was selected by executive producers Christophe Chantzis and Erik Vanspauwen to be the new front woman and singer of the Ian van Dahl project.[6] In the early stages of her involvement, Coenen too mimed the original vocals of Theeuwen when performing the project’s debut hit “Castles in the Sky” onstage. A new version featuring Coenen’s vocals was eventually recorded. She later became involved in the songwriting with the producers and recorded vocals for the follow-up singles (“Will I?,” “Reason,” “Try”) and the debut album Ace. The single “Castles In The Sky” was already a major success reaching No.3 on UK charts while also spending seven weeks in the top 10 in the summer of 2001. The single had also managed to crossover onto American Charts and reached the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at No.91.[7] The follow-up singles recorded with Coenen became major hits on the UK singles charts as well.[8] The singles “Will I?” peaked at No.5, “Reason” at No.8 and “Try” at No.15. The Ace album reached No.7 in the UK where it achieved Gold status.[9]
In 2004, Coenen recorded vocals for the second Ian van Dahl album Lost & Found. Belgian producers Peter Luts and David Vervoort officially joined Chantizs and Vanspauwen for the production of the second album. The album singles “I Can’t Let You Go,” “Believe,” “Where Are You Now?” and “Inspiration” were all successes but still failed to match the massive commercial sales of the previous singles from the first album. The final singles Coenen recorded with Ian van Dahl (“Movin On” and “Just a Girl”) were released in the late-2000s.
My favorite remix of each single by Ian Van Dahl (and AnnaGrace) is listed in chronological order below.
- Castles In The Sky
- Will I
- Reason
- Try
- Secret Love
- I Can’t Let You Go
- Where Are You Now
- Believe
- Inspiration
- Movin’ On
- Just A Girl
as AnnaGrace
- You Make Me Feel
- Let The Feelings Go
- Love Keeps Calling
- Celebration
- Don’t Let Go
- Ready To Fall In Love
- Alive
- Girls Like Dancing
ANNAGRACE WANTED LIST:
- A (any remix)
* My favorite remixes are of personal opinion entirely. All remixes in my collection are edited versions that were either released as professional edits or edited using my personal editing software. This page will be updated as new favorites are added, and new songs are released by the artist. If anyone can supply a track from my Wanted List, please contact me.
