Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German singer.
She began her professional career at the age of 14 as a singer in Hamburg clubs on the Reeperbahn. In 1968 she was invited to join The City Preachers, a contemporary folk/protest band.
In 1972, together with British composer Anthony Moore and American singer-songwriter Peter Blegvad she formed Slapp Happy. They recorded two albums in Germany for Polydor with Faust as their backing band, Sort Of (1972) and what subsequently became known as Acnalbasac Noom (not released at the time). Then they moved to London. In 1974, Slapp Happy merged with Henry Cow, a politically oriented avant-rock group, and they made two albums, Desperate Straights (1974) and In Praise of Learning (1975).
Henry Cow toured Europe for two years, during which time they released a live album Henry Cow Concerts (1976) which included Krause singing duos with Robert Wyatt.
A studio album Hopes and Fears began in 1978 as a Henry Cow album but differences of opinion in the group about its content resulted in it being credited to Art Bears, a new band consisting of Krause, Chris Cutlerand Fred Frith.
In 1983, Krause joined a new band News from Babel, featuring core members Krause, Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper and Zeena Parkins. They recorded two albums Work Resumed on the Tower (1984) and Letters Home (1985).
In 1986, Krause made two solo albums: Supply and Demand: Songs by Brecht/Weill and Eisler and Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler.
Krause was involved in a number of projects and collaborations. She performed on the Michael Nyman/Paul Richards art song, The Kiss. She also featured on Music for Other Occasions (1986) with Lindsay Cooper, Domestic Stories (1992) with Chris Cutlerand Lutz Glandien, Each in Our Own Thoughts (1994) with Tim Hodgkinson, and A Scientific Dream and a French Kiss (1998) with Marie Goyette.
In 1991, Dagmar Krause, Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad reunited to work on a Camera, a television opera, based on an original idea by Krause, with words by Peter Blegvad and music by Anthony Moore.
In 2010, Krause joined Comicoperando, a tribute to the music of Robert Wyatt.
