Lyane Hegemann

Born on April 8, 1969 in Hattingen, Lyane Hegemann is also known by the stage name Lyane Leigh. Her work spans pop, dance/techno, schlager and eurodance, and she gained international recognition through the dance project E-Rotic.

Originally from the cross‑border Limburg region, she studied in Grubbenvorst and Venlo and trained as a sound engineer at the SAE Institute in Cologne until 1998. Her professional career began in 1987 at Coconut Records; she was a member of the female pop group Twenty-One and performed the female parts for Bad Boys Blue, notably on Come Back and Stay. In 1989–1990 she was part of the German‑language schlager band Xanadu and also released schlager songs solo under Lyane and Lyane Hegemann.

In 1994 she launched the dance project E-Rotic with producer David Brandes. Built around the then‑popular eurodance style, E-Rotic featured alternating male rap and female singing — tracks like Marafrasi — and foregrounded sexual themes, with the moans of Lyane Leigh becoming a signature element. Key international hits include Max Don't Have Sex with Your Ex, Fred Come to Bed and Sex on the Phone.

Lyane performed live with E-Rotic until 1995 but continued to provide studio vocals until 1998 while Jeanette Christensen handled playback. From 2000 until the project’s temporary hiatus in 2005, Lydia Madajewski took over the role. David Brandes and Lyane Leigh relaunched E-Rotic in 2015; Lyane returned as a studio singer and later resumed public appearances, mainly at 90s festivals in countries such as the Czech Republic, Finland and Russia.

Alongside Raz-Ma-Taz, she founded the dance project S.E.X. Appeal in 1996 (Raz‑Ma‑Taz left shortly after). Although musically close to E-Rotic, S.E.X. Appeal did not achieve the same commercial success but continued, with changes, at least until 2017. Lyane Hegemann also pursues a solo pop/schlager career and produces her releases on her 3H Records label from her studio in Brüggen.