Ina Deter was born Ingrid Deter in West Berlin on January 14, 1947. She is a singer and songwriter, active in the New German Wave, pop, rock and chanson genres. At the age of 16, she founded the all-female skiffle band Lucky Girls in Berlin; she later worked as a country and western singer for Allied troops. After studying graphics and design in Cologne, she became part of the women's movement and made a political statement - for example with the song "Ich habe abgetrieben" (1974). From 1976, she released songs such as "Wenn du so bist wie dein Lachen" and took part in the German preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest. Her albums from this period are in the singer-songwriter style and show her ambitious self-composition. They are accompanied by bassist and producer Micki Meuser and guitarist Manni Holländer. The fourth album Aller Anfang sind wir (1981) marks a decisive turning point: she shifts her voice to the chest area and further anchors her style in creative pop. The commercial breakthrough album Neue Männer braucht das Land followed in 1982 with the Ina Deter Band, which entered the German charts in the summer of 1983 and made the song of the same name the anthem of the time. The band led by Micki Meuser and Manni Holländer toured successfully with over 180 concerts; the album is remembered as a defining NDW release. Three years later, Frauen kommen langsam - aber gewaltig (1986) is released, reaching number 21 in the German album charts. Further releases followed, including Mit Leidenschaft (1984) and Das Live-Album (1987, number 55 in the charts). In 1990, following the death of Manni Holländer and health setbacks, Ina Deter retired from the music business. She devotes herself to theater and painting and in 1997 records chansons by Édith Piaf, which she performs with Ina Deter & Die Compagnons. In 2003, the album Voilà - Songs by Edith Piaf in German is released. In 2005, she returns to Berlin and now lives partly in seclusion in Berlin and Spain.
