German-Romanian Michael Cretu, born 18 May, 1957 in Bucharest, Romania, is a musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In 1965, Cretu enrolled in the Lyzeum No. 2 in Bucharest, a college for gifted young musicians, as a pianist, followed by five months of studies in Paris in 1968. There his interest in Western pop was born, and he decided to pursue a career in that field. After completing his studies, Cretu moved to Bad Homburg to study at the Academy Of Music in Frankfurt, Germany, where Professor Philipp Mohler began to take an interest in him. Having passed his final exams in 1978, Cretu immediately found work as a studio musician and arranger.
He founded Data Alpha Studio, and in January 1985 he met German pop singer Sandra, whose album The Long Play he produced, arranged, played drums and keyboards on. They soon became a couple, moved to Ibiza, Spain and were married on Jan. 7, 1988. In 1990, Cretu launched his new musical adventure, the highly successful new age album project Enigma, characterized by the chanting, Gregorian monks which soon became all the rage all over Europe. Sandra was singing on the albums until their marriage ended in 2008.