Sarah Connor was born Sarah Leve on June 13, 1980, in Delmenhorst, Germany. She was the eldest of five children (four sisters and one brother) born to parents Soraya and Michael. At age 6, Sarah joined a local gospel choir, and during her teens, she attended music school where she took classical vocal lessons. Her musical idols while growing up were such artists as Aretha Franklin Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Marvin Gaye.

By the time she was 17, Sarah was convinced that she was ready to dedicate her life to music. She was picked by her music school to perform alongside Michael Jacksonwhen he gave a huge concert in Germany, and the experience turned out to be a revelation. "I loved it," Sarah recalled, "and knew for sure then that singing was what I wanted to do." After finishing school, Sarah focused all her energy on getting her music out to the world.

In the spring of 2001, Sarah released her first single, called "Let's Get Back to Bed -- Boy!" which jumped to No. 2 on German singles charts and hit the Top 15 on the European Top 100. Within weeks, she had reached gold status in both Germany and Austria, and the music channel VIVA gave her a Comet award for Best National Newcomer. Another hit single, "From Sarah with Love," followed later that year. When Sarah finally released her first album, Green Eyed Soul, in February of 2001, it went on to sell more than 450,000 copies.

In 2002, Sarah won a German ECHO award (for Best Female National Rock/Pop Artist). After conducting a national tour to sold-out crowds, Sarah went back into the studio. With friend and mentor Wyclef Jeanacting as producer, she recorded "One Nite Stand (Of Wolves and Sheep)," which became the first single off of Sarah's sophomore release, He's Unbelievable. Unbelievable went gold a mere two days after being released in September of 2002.

While working on her third album, Key to My Soul, in the summer of 2003, Sarah became pregnant with the child of boyfriend and fellow singer Marc Terenzi. Terenzi's band, Natural, had contributed to "Just One Last Dance," one of the singles from Key to My Soul. The album was released in November of that year, as Sarah was taking time off as a maternity leave. Her son Tyler was born on February 2, 2004. Sarah married Terenzi on March 15 of that same year.

In the spring of 2004, Sarah broke into the coveted English-language market. She released her first U.S. single, "Bounce," in April, and then a self-titled album in May. "Bounce" reached No. 11 on the U.S. charts, No. 12 in Japan and No. 14 in the UK and Australia. Sarah's worldwide success earned her a World Music Award in September of 2004.

In February of 2005, Sarah took home a German Golden Camera award for Best National Pop Act. She also lent her voice to the German version of the animated feature Robots (2005).