Nina Hagen

Nina Hagen – born Catherina Hagen in the former German Democratic Republic on March 11, 1955 – is an eccentric singer, songwriter, and actress who mixed punk attitude and quirky new wave music with her unique artistic personality and created some of the most riveting music of the late 1970s and 1980s. The daughter of actress Eva-Maria Hagen (1934-2022), Nina Hagen grew up on the east side of Berlin, Germany. She began a career as an actress and singer with the group Automobil, who gained notoriety with their debut single, "Du hast den Farbfilm Vergessen,” in 1974. After one more single with Automobil, she left East Germany to join her dissident father - singer and poet Wolf Biermann - in Hamburg, Germany. Already known for her previous singles, she signed to the CBS label and was encouraged to broaden her musical scope by traveling to London, England. Nina Hagen soaked up the punk and new wave scenes in London and formed the Nina Hagen Band immediately after she returned to West Berlin. The group released their debut album, Nina Hagen Band, in 1978, which rose to Number 11 on the German Albums chart. The album received international attention and she became one of Germany’s first new wave exports. During the band’s European tour, the relationship amongst members deteriorated and Nina Hagen decided to leave her own band. However, the group had recording commitments and they recorded the music in Berlin while Nina Hagen recorded her vocals in Los Angeles, California. The album, Unbehagen (1979), was another hit and boosted her commercial profile internationally, allowing her to move base to America and record her album NunSexMonkRock (1982) in New York. The album was a critical success and earned her airplay on American new wave radio stations. Her next album, Angstlos (1983), was a change of pace and featured dance music produced by Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. The album featured the hit “New York / N.Y.,” which reached Number 9 on Billboard’s Dance chart. She continued to release a series of well-received albums including In Ekstase (1985), Nina Hagen (1989) Street (1991), and Revolution Ballroom (1993). After pushing pop and rock music to its limits, she began releasing albums that were more experimental and less commercial including Freud Euch (1995), BeeHappy (1996), the Hindi-language album Om Namah Shivay (1999), Return of the Mother (2000), the jazz standards album Big Band Explosion (2003) and Irgendwo auf der Welt (2006). Nina Hagen continued her eclectic musical path by recording mostly gospel covers for the album Personal Jesus (2010), which rose to Number 16 in Germany. In 2011, Nina Hagen returned to her new wave and punk roots for the album Volksbeat. Over the course of her career, Nina Hagen also released 14 compilation albums, over two dozen singles, and several EPs. She has also become a popular voice-over actress.