Daniel Dominik Kaiser-Küblböck (born Küblböck; 27 August 1985 – 9 September 2018) was a German singer, best known for placing third in the television talent show ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

'' in 2003. In the years that followed, he remained present in the media through work as a jazz singer and entrepreneur, as an actor and narrator in films and audio books, and by taking part in reality shows. In September 2018, Küblböck went missing at sea off Canada while travelling on a cruise ship, and was declared dead on 10 March 2021. Shortly before the disappearance, Küblböck stated the desire to assume a female identity and began using the name Lana Kaiser.

Career

Küblböck rose to stardom in late 2002 when he participated in the first season of German talent show ''

'' (''DSDS''). He gained the most viewer votes in three of the nine rounds of the competition and received the second-most votes in a further three rounds. Together with other participants, Daniel recorded the album ''United'' which included the number 1 single " We Have a Dream". He finished the season in third place overall. After ''DSDS'', Küblböck signed a contract with BMG. In March 2003, he released his debut solo single, "You Drive Me Crazy", which topped the German sales chart. The follow-up single, "Heartbeat", and Daniel's debut album ''Positive Energie'' both reached no. 2 in Germany and achieved major success in Austria and Switzerland. In September 2003, he launched a perfume line for children in three

fragrances An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficien ...

under his name. He also released an autobiography ''Ich lebe meine Töne''. Küblböck invested the proceeds from his album ''Positive Energie'' amounting to around one million euros in a

solar plant Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to conve ...

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities). Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two ...

, which would bring him high monthly profits. In early 2004, he participated in ''

Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! ''Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'', also known colloquially as the ''Dschungelcamp'' (''Jungle Camp''), is a German reality television show, based on the British reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. The ...

'', the German version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', where he came third. He then released a cover of "

The Lion Sleeps Tonight "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube", through South African Gallo Record Company. In 1961, a version adapted into English by the doo-wop group the Tokens bec ...

" which reached the top 10 in Germany and the top 40 on the Austrian and Swiss charts. His next single, the ballad "Teenage Tears", sold 10,000 copies. In August, Küblböck's biographical musical film ''

Daniel – Der Zauberer ''Daniel – Der Zauberer'' (translated: ''Daniel – The Wizard'') is a German Biographical film, biographical Musical film, musical Drama Film, drama film written and directed by Ulli Lommel, starring pop singer Daniel Küblböck as himself. The ...

'' was released, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself. The film was critically panned and bombed at the box office. At the end of 2004, he released the charity single "Don't Close Your Eyes" with three others ''DSDS'' participants under the moniker 4 United, in support of Ärzte ohne Grenzen (Doctors Without Borders). It was a moderate chart success. In 2005, Küblböck launched his own marketing company Positive Energie. In November 2005, he released his second album, ''Liebe Nation'', recorded in German. It only reached no. 54 in Germany, and the accompanying single "König von Deutschland" was a moderate chart success. The next single, country-inspired "Born in Bavaria", was his last ever to chart. Küblböck's subsequent albums were released independently. 2009 saw the release of the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

album ''Jazz Meets Blues... Wenn zwei sich verlieben'' and his first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

CD ''Leise rieselt der Schnee''. The following year, he released ''Schrebergarten'' and a two-disc compilation ''Best of 2003–2010''. None of these albums managed to enter any sales charts. In 2011, he started hosting his own talk show ''Daniels Bistro''. In 2012, he released the album ''Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh’ nur Spanisch'' which included some material recorded in Spanish and influenced by

Latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...

. As Daniel Kaiser he submitted the song "Be a Man" to the German national pre-selection for the

2014 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song " Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European ...

, but it was rejected by the jury. In spring 2015, he took part in the eighth season of the German dance show '' Let's Dance'', where he finished sixth, together with his dancing partner Otlile Mabuse. In early 2016, he released his final album, ''Jesus Is My Lover''.

Personal life

Family

Küblböck's parents were Günther, a German, and Bianca, a woman of Italian descent. He had four brothers: Andreas, Michael, Günther and Dennis, and one sister, Jasmin. While living in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, he met and befriended German millionaire Kerstin Elisabeth Kaiser who would later officially adopt him. Daniel subsequently adopted the double-barrelled surname Kaiser-Küblböck.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

In 2010, Küblböck came out as gay, after previously describing himself as

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. Just prior to his disappearance, Küblböck privately discussed wanting live out a female identity under the name "Lana Kaiser". He said in September 2018 that he would have a

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

to become a woman and that his

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...

had already started. Shortly before the disappearance, Küblböck created an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account with the name "Rosa Luxemburg", on which he described himself as "

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

". In 2020, artist Philipp Gufler created a 13-minute short film and a magazine about Lana Kaiser. The film was shown, among others, at the 67th Short Film Festival in

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

and in the group exhibition ''Sweat'' in the

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a museum for modern and contemporary art in Munich, Bavaria. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. It was built between 1933 an ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Legal trouble

On 24 February 2004, Küblböck was injured when he collided with a truck while driving a car without a licence near

Pfarrkirchen Pfarrkirchen () is a municipality in southern Lower Bavaria Germany, the capital of the district Rottal-Inn. It has about 12,500 inhabitants and is an important school centre with about 10,000 pupils from all over Lower Bavaria. The town spre ...

. He was fined €25,000 and sentenced to eight hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

2018 disappearance

Küblböck was a private passenger on the cruise ship '' AIDAluna'' that left

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 29 August 2018, bound for New York City. At around 5 a.m. (

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

) on 9 September, he jumped overboard. The vessel was in open waters about 185 km north of St. John's in the

Labrador Sea The Labrador Sea (; ) is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelf, continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, and northeast. It connects to the north with Baffi ...

. The water temperature was about . The

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

launched a search operation, assisted by the cruise ships ''AIDAluna'' and MS ''Zuiderdam''. On 10 September, the search was abandoned, because the maximum survival time in cold water was exceeded. Under German law, a person missing at sea can be declared dead after six months have elapsed and a motion is filed by an eligible party. In August 2020, an application was submitted to declare Küblböck dead or to present evidence by 30 September 2020 that he is alive. On 10 March 2021, the

Amtsgericht An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the ' ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most criminal and ...

(district court)

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

declared Küblböck dead, setting his death date as 9 September 2018, 8:55 a.m. local time. In the weeks leading up to the disappearance, Küblböck's friends noticed changes in his personality and signs of psychological problems, unsuccessfully trying to dissuade him from going on the cruise. Other passengers on the ship also reported Daniel's erratic behaviour, mood swings, and psychological problems.

Discography

Studio albums

Christmas albums

* 2009: ''Leise rieselt der Schnee'' * 2010: ''Küblböckische Weihnacht – 24 Dates'' * 2011: ''Küblböckische Weihnacht – Ruhe vor dem Sturm''

Live albums

* 2008: ''Zero to Sexy – Live'' * 2011: ''Schrebergarten – Live'' * 2012: ''El tiempo – Live'' * 2013: ''Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh' nur Spanisch – Live'' * 2014: ''Die Küblböck Live Show''

Compilations

* 2010: ''Best of 2003–2010''

Singles

Other appearances

DVDs

* 2004: ''Live on PE Tour 2003'' * 2004: ''My Life Is Magic'' * 2007: ''Jazz Night'' * 2008: ''Back to the Roots'' * 2009: ''Jazz Meets Blues... Wenn zwei sich verlieben'' * 2011: ''Schrebergarten Berlin'' * 2013: ''Diez años Kúblbóck – Ich versteh' nur Spanisch – Live in Berlin''

Filmography

* 2003: '' St. Angela'' (TV series; guest appearance) * 2004: ''

'' ("Daniel the Wizard" or "Daniel the Sorcerer") (feature film; starring as himself) * 2004: ''Crazy Race 2 – Warum die Mauer wirklich fiel'' (feature film; minor role)

TV shows

* 2002–03: ''

'' * 2004: ''

'' * 2005: '' Big Brother'' * 2011–14: ''Daniels Bistro'' * 2015: '' Let's Dance''

Bibliography

* Küblböck, Daniel in collaboration with Julia Boenisch (2003). ''Ich lebe meine Töne''. Munich: Random House, 223 pages. . * Küblböck, Daniel (2007). ''My Way: Konzertbildband August 2005 bis Dezember 2006''. Positive Energie GmbH, 103 pages. * Küblböck, Daniel (2010). ''My Way 2: Konzertbildband 2007 bis 2010''. Positive Energie GmbH. * Küblböck, Daniel (2017). ''My Way 3: Konzertbildband September 2010 bis April 2017''. Positive Energie GmbH.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kublbock, Daniel 1985 births 21st-century German LGBTQ people Deutschland sucht den Superstar participants English-language singers from Germany German autobiographers German LGBTQ singers German male singers German people of Italian descent German pop singers Missing German people Missing person cases in Canada People from Passau (district) People lost at sea People declared dead in absentia 2010s missing person cases