Bernd Meinunger (* September 30, 1944 in Meiningen; † October 17, 2025 in Grünwald) was a German songwriter.
In collaboration with Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger created numerous hits such as “Ein bißchen Frieden” (Nicole), “Dschinghis Khan” (Dschinghis Khan), and “Theater” (Katja Ebstein), which were also successful at the Eurovision Song Contest. He has worked for many German-speaking artists; for example, Peter Maffay sang Meinunger’s most successful song: “So bist Du” (1979). He has also worked under pseudonyms such as John O’Flynn, Jim Leary, O. Pinion, and Gunter Johansen.
He also had a fruitful artistic relationship with the singer and composer Hanne Haller, with whom he co-wrote many songs, including Haller’s chart successes ” Samstag abend”, ” Mein lieber Mann”, and ” Weil du ein zärtlicher Mann bist” and Geh nicht.
Bernd Meinunger was also successful as a lyricist with producer David Brandes. Acts such as E-Rotic and Vanilla Ninja benefited from his lyrics. Along with Sebastian Pobot and Don Gray, Bernd Meinunger was also part of the production team for singer and actress Laura Schneider, who landed a top 10 hit with the song “Immer wieder” in late 1999. In 2004, he wrote “I’m in Love Again” for producer Jack White, sung by Ira Losco.
At the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, Bernd Meinunger was responsible not only for the lyrics of the German entry, but also for the Swiss entry “Cool Vibes” by Vanilla Ninja. Both songs were composed by David Brandes.
Between 1989 and 2010, Bernd Meinunger participated with a total of eleven songs in the Grand Prix der Volksmusik. In 1986, he wrote the lyrics for the German version of Nella Martinetti’s winning song “Bella Musica.”
Bernd Meinunger considered himself a craftsman who could deliver lyrics to a melody within half a day. In total, he wrote around 5,500 songs, including 1,000 in English.
Bernd Meinunger lived in Grünwald near Munich. In his free time, he played golf. He was a school friend of Michael Kunze, who was also a songwriter.
Meinunger died on 17 October 2025, at the age of 81.
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