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Nina Hagen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Nina Hagen, born Catharina Hagen, is a German singer and actress from East Berlin, born in 1955. Her mother was the actress and singer Eva-Maria Hagen, her stepfather the dissident singer Wolf Biermann. In the GDR she became known with the band Automobil. Her song Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen (1974) playfully poked fun at the grey, controlled atmosphere in the country.

Music and breakthrough

In 1976 Biermann was stripped of his East German citizenship, and Hagen followed him to the West. She signed with CBS and came into contact with punk in London. In West Berlin she started the Nina Hagen Band, whose 1978 debut album, with the single TV-Glotzer, sold well and received glowing reviews. What set her apart was her theatrical singing: thanks to her operatic training she could switch within a single song between raw punk vocals and high, operatic flights. In 1979 she left the band.

Influence

As a solo artist she made the English-language NunSexMonkRock in 1982, her first album in the American charts, followed by Fearless (1983) and Nina Hagen in Ekstasy (1985). With her statements about spirituality and animal rights and her provocations, she was constantly in the news. She is often called the Godmother of German Punk. Later she voiced characters in the German versions of films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and made, among other things, Volksbeat (2011) and the gospel album Highway to Heaven (2026). In 2021 Angela Merkel chose Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen for her farewell ceremony.

Listening

Listening tip. In Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen, hear how Hagen reproaches her boyfriend for forgetting the colour film, so that the holiday photos are only black and white. Notice the cheerful accompaniment and the exaggerated, theatrical singing, in which the mockery of the grey GDR can be heard.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists