Ireen Sheer (born 25 February 1949) is a German-English singer. She had a top five hit on the German singles chart with "Goodbye Mama" in 1973. She went on to finish fourth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 representing Luxembourg, sixth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 representing Germany, and thirteenth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 representing Luxembourg again. Life and career Born in Romford, England, Sheer spent her early years in Billericay, Essex in the U.K. where she attended The Billericay School. She was discovered at the beginning of the 1960s through a talent competition, but still took time to graduate from a bank apprenticeship in spite of her early success. She sang for several pop groups, such as The Family Dogg, before she devoted herself from 1970 onwards to her solo career, focusing mainly on Germany. Her single, "Goodbye Mama", became a Top 5 hit on the German chart and a Number 2 on the Swiss chart in 1973. After that, she released numerous records, almost every one going on to become a hit in its own right. Sheer became a guest on several different television music-shows, including several appearances on ZDF Hitparade, one of Germany's most popular music programs. In 1974, she represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest, with "Bye Bye, I Love You" and finished in fourth place. Four years later, in 1978, she sang for Germany and finished sixth. In 1985, Sheer sang together with Annemieke Verdoorn (Margo), Franck Olivier, Chris Roberts, Diane Solomon and Malcolm Roberts, once more representing Luxembourg. However, their song "Children, Kinder, Enfants" finished in thirteenth place. She took part in the contest two other times, in which she did not progress beyond the German preliminaries or finals: in 1976 with "Einmal Wasser, einmal Wein" ("Once Water, Once Wine") and in a 2002 duet with Bernhard Brink, singing "Es ist niemals zu spät" ("It Is Never Too Late"). Besides her solo performances, Sheer also sang a number of duets with her ex-husband Gavin du Porter, and her colleague, Bernhard Brink. Over thirty years after her first hit, Sheer is still a well-known member of the pop music establishment in Germany, continuing to appear on music shows and release new albums and singles. Awards Sheer has received several gold records for her work, and has twice received the German music award the Golden Tuning Fork, both in 1981 and 1993.