The stage name Nena is with Gabriele Susanne Kerner from early childhood, when she heard other children call her “niña”, meaning “girl”, while in Spain. The international nickname heralded an international career – “99 Luftballons” made the 62-year-old artist recognized all over the world.
The mother tongue is the key to success
Nena took her first steps in the music industry in the band The Stripes. The band caught the attention of eccentrics associated with Nina Hagen, one of the most interesting figures from the German music scene. They offered to produce her single, provided that she and her then-boyfriend moved to Berlin and started writing lyrics in German. The singer agreed to such conditions, although she believed that only English lyrics would work with her music. Years later, she changed her mind – she found the English-language version of “99 Luftballons” bizarre and pretentious, and singing in her native language after the release of the first album after the breakup of The Stripes guaranteed her success throughout Germany.
The single “Nur geträumt” debuted on German television in 1982, selling 40,000 copies. copies and reached the second place on the national charts. “99 Luftballons” repeated this feat, except that on the world chart in the United States – Nena was surpassed only by Van Halen with the song “Jump”.
Rock soul
Although she is known as a pop and new-wave music star, her inspirations are extremely different. Among the greatest inspirations, he mentions the punk Ramones, multi-incarnation David Bowie or the characterful Debbie Harry, also known as Blondie. However, the most important band in her life remains The Rolling Stones.
If I hadn’t started listening to the Rolling Stones at the age of 12, I’d be a different person today, probably a secretary or something.
– she said in an interview for “New Musical Express”. However, she did not like the rock and roll lifestyle. While everyone in Nena’s team took drugs, she was the only one who remained abstinent.
Nena is naturally stoned. I don’t need drugs.
said her then-boyfriend and drummer Rolf Brendel.
Despite everything, she had something of a rebel – at the age of 17 she moved in alone and dropped out of school. Years later, as a well-known singer and mother of five, she supported the campaign against the reduction of state maternity benefits in Germany and supported the “Ehe für alle” – “marriage for all” movement. She also took part in many charity concerts for sick children or victims of disasters, e.g. flood. She has also been a vegetarian for many years.
Nowadays, Nena is mainly active on German television. Already in the 1990s, she ran programs for children, and since 2008 she has been a juror in television talent competitions, including “Dein Song” and “The Voice”. In 2017 and 2018, she was also a trainer of young adepts of vocal art in “The Voice Kids”. He does not give up music. In 2023, she released a new music video and announced a European summer tour, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Judging by the photos she posted on social media, he almost stopped her.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
