Nena
| Nena | |
|---|---|
Nena in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gabriele Susanne Kerner |
| Born |
24 March 1960 Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany |
| Genres | Neue Deutsche Welle, new wave, synthpop, pop, punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | CBS, Warner |
| Associated acts | Carlo Karges, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Jürgen Dehmel, , Peter Heppner |
Nena (pronounced [ˈnɪna]; born Gabriele Susanne Kerner, 24 March 1960) is a German singer-songwriter, actress, and comedian who rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons".Nena was also the name of the band with whom she released the song. The re-recording of some of her old songs rekindled her career in 2002. In 2007, she co-founded Neue Schule Hamburg.
Gabriele Susanne Kerner (Nena) was born on 24 March 1960 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany while her family lived in the nearby town of Breckerfeld. She spent the earliest part of her childhood in Breckerfeld and later lived in Hagen. She acquired her nickname, based on the Spanish word "niña", or "little girl", at the age of three, while on a vacation to Spain with her parents. In 1977 she left high school before graduation, and in the three following years she was trained as a goldsmith.
Nena's musical career began on 2 July 1979 when guitarist Rainer Kitzmann founded The Stripes band and, on the basis of having seen her dancing at a local disco, asked her to audition for the position of the lead singer.The group had a minor hit with the song "Ecstasy", but never achieved mainstream success and disbanded on 3 March 1982. In May 1982 Nena and her then-boyfriend moved to West Berlin, where they met future band members guitarist Carlo Karges, keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, and bass player Jürgen Dehmel. Together, they formed the band Nena. In 1982 "Nena" released their first single, "Nur geträumt", which became an instant hit in Germany after the band appeared on the German television show Musikladen on 21 August 1982. The single reportedly sold 40,000 copies the day after the song appeared on the show and reached No. 2 in the German charts.
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