Nena
Background information
Birth name Gabriele Susanne Kerner
Origin German flag Germany
Genre(s) New Wave
Pop
Years active 1981 - 1987 (group)
1987 - present (solo)
Label(s) Warner Music
Members
Nena
Former members
Carlo Karges
Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen
Jürgen Dehmel
Rolf Brendel
Nena (born March 24, 1960 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German
singer who became famous with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons" ("99
Red Balloons" in the English version). Nena is also the name of the band she
played with. With the re-release of her own hits, Nena's career saw a second
wind in the year 2002.
Biography
Nena was born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in 1960 in Hagen, North
Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She acquired her nickname, "Nena", a term of
endearment for "little girl", at the age of three. In 1977 she left high
school prior her graduation to receive training as a goldsmith. Around the
same time guitarist Rainer Kitzmann offered her the position of lead singer
of his band, The Stripes. The group had a minor hit with the song "Ecstasy"
but never managed to achieve broad success, and soon split.
In 1981 Nena and her boyfriend Rolf Brendel moved to West-Berlin, where they
met their later band members: guitarist Carlo Karges, keyboard player Uwe
Fahrenkrog-Petersen and bass player Jürgen Dehmel. A year later the band
released their first single, "Nur geträumt" ("Only dreamt"), which came to
fame after the band appeared on the German television show "Musikladen".
The following year the band released its self-titled first album, which
contained the singles "Leuchtturm" ("Lighthouse") and "99 Luftballons" ("99
Balloons"). The latter one quite accidentally got into the hands of a few
Californian DJs, who helped to promote the song internationally. The single
managed to become a worldwide #1 hit, becoming Nena's most popular song to
date. Nena then released ? (Fragezeichen) in 1984, Feuer und Flamme ("Fire
and Flame") in 1985, It's All In The Game (featuring English versions of the
songs on Feuer und Flamme) and Eisbrecher ("Icebreaker") in 1986. Despite
achieving constant success the group decided to go their separate ways in
1987.
Nena started dating Swiss actor Benedict Freitag shortly after the breakup
of the band in 1987. The couple had three children together, the first one
being Christopher Daniel, who was born disabled due to medical mistakes made
during the birth that caused Nena to go into cardiac arrest. He died at the
age of 11 months. In 1990 they had twins, Larissa Maria and Sakias Manuel.
After splitting with Freitag, Nena started a relationship with drummer and
music producer Philipp Palm from Stuttgart, with whom she has two children,
Samuel Vincent (1995) and Simeon Joel (1997). The couple and the four
children live in Hamburg today.
Throughout the late 1980s and the 1990s, Nena released a wide range of
moderately successful solo albums, quite a few of them consisting of songs
for children. Simultaneously, she hosted several TV shows, including Metro
and the German preselection Countdown Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song
Contest 1998. In 2002 Carlo Karges the songwriter of the most successful
Nena songs like "99 Luftballons" or "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" died
because of liver failure.
In that same year, Nena celebrated her 20th stage anniversary with the album
"Nena feat. Nena", a CD consisting of newly arranged remakes of her own hits
from the '80s. The jubilee album meant an incredible comeback for Nena,
which once again spawned a number of successful chart entries. The remake of
"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" as an English-German duet with Kim Wilde was a
major hit in various European countries, hitting the No.1 spot in the
Netherlands and Austria, and No.3 in Germany in 2003. She soon released a
live DVD. Nena's 2005 album "Willst du mit mir gehn" ("Do You Wanna Go with
Me?") quickly achieved platinum status as well. The first single from the
album, "Liebe ist" ("Love Is"), shot to #1 on the German charts in early
2005 and was used as the theme song for a German telenovela, Verliebt in
Berlin. Nena's "Willst du mit mir gehn Tour 2005" throughout Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland in November and December 2005 was another
tremendous success for Nena, consisting of numerous sold-out concerts.
The song 99 Luftballons is featured in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto:
Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103.
In 2004, Nena took to the stage during the Howard Jones 20th Anniversary
concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Nena sung '99 Luftballons' with
a combination of German and English lyrics.
The Sudbury school in Hamburg which was founded by Nena, was opened in early
2007.
In October 2007, Nena will release a new album entitled "Cover Me", an album
composed entirely of cover songs. She also recently voiced Saphira for the
German dub of Eragon and the role of the Princess for the German version of
Arthur and the Invisibles. The first single for this album, Caravan of Love
(feat. Duncan Townsend) placed #29 on the charts. She is currently in New
York recording for the album, which will be a double CD (one in English, and
one in German). She released a new single, "Ich Kann nix Dafür" (It's Not My
Fault) on April 14th, 2007 for the movie Vollidiot.
* Nena - 99 Luftballons excerpt (file info) — [Play media] play in browser
(beta)
o An excerpt from 99 Luftballons
o Problems listening to the file? See media help.
Discography
Albums
* The Stripes (1980) as The Stripes
* Nena (1983) #1 GER
* ? (Fragezeichen) (1984) #1 GER
* 99 Luftballons (1984)
* Feuer und Flamme (1985) #2 GER
* It's All In The Game (1985)
* Eisbrecher (1986) #45 GER
* Wunder gescheh'n (1989) #23 GER
* Komm lieber Mai... (1990) #45 GER
* Nena Die Band (1991)
* Bongo Girl (1992) #32 GER
* Und alles dreht sich (1994) #53 GER
* Nena singt die schönsten Kinderlieder (1994)
* Nena Live (1995)
* Unser Apfelhaus (1995) #69 GER
* Nena und die Bambus Bären Bande (1996)
* Jamma nich (1997) #29 GER
* Nenas Weihnachtsreise (1997) #28 GER
* Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt was nich (1998) #42 GER
* Nena macht... Rabatz (1999)
* Chokmah (2001) #18 GER
* Nenas Tausend Sterne (2002)
* Nena feat. Nena (2002) #2 GER
* Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (2002)
* Nena Live Nena (2004) #31 GER
* Willst du mit mir gehn (2005) #2 GER
Bootleg Albums
* The 12 inch Collection
* The Magic Sound Of Deep Presents Nena
Singles
Group
Year Title Chart Positions Album
GER Singles
1982 "Nur geträumt" #2 Nena
1983 "99 Luftballons" #1 (also #1 UK, #2 USA) Nena
1983 "Leuchtturm" #2 Nena
1983 "? (Fragezeichen)" #3 ? (Fragezeichen)
1984 "Rette mich" #11 ? (Fragezeichen)
1984 "Lass mich dein Pirat sein" #53 ? (Fragezeichen)
1984 "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" #3 Feuer und Flamme
1985 "Feuer und Flamme" #8 Feuer und Flamme
1985 "Haus der drei Sonnen" #43 Feuer und Flamme
1985 "Jung wie du" #47 Feuer und Flamme
1986 "Du kennst die Liebe nicht" -- Feuer und Flamme
1986 "Mondsong" #37 Eisbrecher
1987 "Engel der Nacht" -- Eisbrecher
Solo
Year Title Chart Positions Album
GER Singles
1989 "Wunder gescheh'n" #19 Wunder gescheh'n
1990 "Du bist überall" #54 Wunder gescheh'n
1990 "Im Rausch der Liebe" - Wunder gescheh'n
1992 "Manchmal ist ein Tag ein ganzes Leben" #48 Bongo Girl
1992 "Ohne Ende" Bongo Girl
1992 "Conversation" Bongo Girl
1993 "Viel zuviel Glück" Und Alles Dreht Sich
1993 "N Zentimeter Liebe" (feat. Kralle Krawinkel)
1994 "Hol mich zurück" Und Alles Dreht Sich
1994 "Ich halt dich fest" Und Alles Dreht Sich
1995 "Weißes Schiff" Wunder Gescheh'n
1997 "Ganz gelassen..." #75 Jamma Nich
1997 "Jamma Nich" Jamma Nich
1997 "Alles Was Du Willst" Jamma Nich
1997 "Auf Dich Und Mich" Jamma Nich
1998 "Was hast du in meinem Traum gemacht" #91 Wenn alles richtig ist, dann
stimmt was nich
1998 "Dann Fiel Mir Auf" Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt was nich
1998 "Das Ist Normal?" Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt was nich
1999 "Ich umarm' die ganze Welt" #98 Tobias Totz und sein Löwe
2001 "Carpe diem" #66 Chokmah
2002 "Oldschool Baby" (with Westbam) #21 Alles Gute - Die Singles 1982-2002
2002 "99 Luftballons (New Version)" #28 Nena feat. Nena
2003 "Leuchturm (New Version)" #7 Nena feat. Nena
2003 "Wunder gescheh'n" (New Version) (with Friends) #9 Nena feat. Nena
(2003 Edition)
2003 "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (feat. Kim Wilde) #3 Nena feat. Nena
2003 "Nur geträumt (New Version)" #79 Nena feat. Nena
2004 "Bang Bang" (feat. Toktok) #51
2004 "Schade" (feat. Sam Ragga Band) #37 The Sound of Sam Ragga
2005 "Liebe ist" #1 Willst du mit mir gehn
2005 "Willst du mit mir gehn" #6 Willst du mit mir gehn
2005 "Lass Mich" #44 Willst du mit mir gehn
2006 "Caravan of Love"(feat. Duncan Townsend) #29
2007 "Ich kann nix dafür"(feat. Olli and Remmler) #10
Filmography (for the lead singer)
* Gib Gas ich will Spaß (1983)
* Richy Guitar (1985)
* Der Unsichtbare (1987)
* Tobias Totz und sein Löwe (1999)
* Die Abrafaxe - Unter schwarzer Flagge (2001)
* Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (2003)
* Eragon (2006)
* Arthur und die Minimoys
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