After his Abitur in Mainz, his main subjects were germanistics, politics and philosophy, he worked as a mason and sculptor in the family company.
He started writing songs for different kinds of groups and solo artists, like Roy Black and Tommy Steiner, before he discovered Jennifer Rush, which proved pivotal for him.
Other European Groups he produced were Culcha Candela, Jan Vogler, Udo Lindenberg, Mireille Mathieu, Nena, Sally Oldfield, Helen Schneider, Anna Maria Kaufmann, Cassandra Steen, Bonnie Bianco, Bobby Kimball, Samy Deluxe, The Boss Hoss, Peter Maffay, Sabrina Weckerlin, Sarah Connor, DJ Ötzi, Roger Cicero, Aloha from Hell and David Garrett.
He was in the jury together with Joja Wendt, Johanna Klum, Frank Ziegler, Elin Skrzipczyk and Nadja Benaissa.
This CD was published by Universal Classic, was released in the US, Canada, Japan and Korea and received platinum in Switzerland.
In 2010, Mende returned to the charts with The Spirit Never Dies, a posthumous album from the late Austrian singer/musician Falco, featuring unreleased songs.