Judith Holfelder-Roy (née Holfelder-von der Tann; born 12 November 1976), known by her stage name Judith Holofernes , is a German singer, guitarist, songwriter and author. She was the lead singer of Wir sind Helden, the German pop rock band that released the song “Guten Tag” in 2002. The band received critical acclaim owing in part to Holofernes’ lyrics, which are characterized by their playful use of words and use of social criticism.

After recording four albums that were chart successes in the German-speaking world, Wir sind Helden went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. Since then, Holofernes has recorded two solo albums (Ein leichtes Schwert, 2014; Ich bin das Chaos, 2017) and has published a book of poems (Du bellst vor dem falschen Baum, 2015) and a memoir (Die Träume anderer Leute, 2022).

Holofernes was born in Berlin and moved at the age of six with her mother to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in the south of Germany. From the age of 14, she busked in the city’s pedestrian zone as a singer/guitarist. After she received her secondary education at Staudinger Gesamtschule, she returned to Berlin to study communication in Social and Economic Contexts at Berlin University of the Arts, but did not complete her studies. At the university, she was concerned with anti-consumerism, one of her activities being to set up the German website of Adbusters, a Canadian-based anti-consumerist magazine.

Holofernes was able to focus on music after leaving university. Towards the end of the nineties, she performed in Berlin clubs as a solo artist and self-released the EP Kamikazefliege (1999),[1] though only 500 copies were produced. Some of the songs from the EP, such as “Außer dir” and “Aurélie”, would be later re-recorded by Wir sind Helden for the band’s debut album.

In mid-2000, Holofernes met drummer Pola Roy, keyboardist/guitarist Jean-Michel Tourette and bassist Stefan Nietzky at a pop music workshop in Hamburg. They formed a band together, though Nietzky was later replaced by bassist Mark Tavassol. The band was initially briefly called Helden (which means “Heroes”) before being renamed Wir sind Helden (which means “We are heroes”).[10] Wir sind Helden’s breakthrough came in 2002 without the support of a record label, when the band’s song “Guten Tag” was played by radio stations and a self-produced music video for the song received heavy rotation on MTV Germany. The band subsequently signed to Labels and released its debut album Die Reklamation (2003), which was a top 5 hit in Germany and Austria and sold over half a million copies in Germany alone. The band went on to record the albums Von hier an blind (2005), Soundso (2007) and Bring mich nach Hause (2010), all of which reached high positions in the German, Austrian and Swiss charts. In April 2012, the band announced that it was taking an indefinite break owing to family commitments, the long distances between the band members’ home cities, and “signs of wear and tear”.

During her break from Wir sind Helden, Holofernes began composing songs informally using Apple software application GarageBand and then later decided to record them in the studio, with herself on guitar, piano and ukulele, Roy on drums, and Jörg Holdinghausen from German band Tele on bass. The songs appear on her solo album Ein leichtes Schwert, which was released in February 2014 and charted at No. 7 in Germany.

Holofernes’ newest album, Ich bin das Chaos, was released in March 2017. For the album, Holofernes collaborated with the Faroese singer-songwriter Teitur Lassen and her husband Pola Roy who produced the album. In 2019, Holofernes joined the crowdfunding platform Patreon. She received support by the American artist Amanda Palmer who has been using crowdfunding to finance her work since 2012. On the platform, Holofernes, amongst other things, shares essays and episodes of her podcast Salon Holofernes in which she talks to various artists. Holofernes’ memoir, Die Träume anderer Leute, was published in September 2022. In the book, Holofernes reflects on her experiences with the music industry, focussing primarily on her time as a solo artist since the hiatus of Wir sind Helden.

Holofernes’ voice appears on the song “X” from the album Supporters’ Album #1 (2003) by German band Einstürzende Neubauten. She also sang background vocals for two songs by Tele on the band’s album Wovon sollen wir leben (2004). Further vocal contributions by Holofernes can be heard on the song “Wir rühren uns nicht vom Fleck” (2004) by German band Die Sterne and “Armer Vater” (2006) by German band Olli Schulz und der Hund Marie. Together with Swedish singer Moneybrother, she recorded the song “Magic Moments”, which appears on his album Mount Pleasure (2007). She has also collaborated with German band Die Höchste Eisenbahn, recording and performing the song “Vergangenheit” (2012), and with German singer Maxim, co-writing and recording the song “Meine Soldaten” (2013).