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Nena
(Redirected from Nena Kerner)
- This article is about Nena the singer. See also nena (disambiguation).
Nena, a popular German singer.
Nena (born March 24, 1960) is a German singer who became famous worldwide with the German New Wave song "99 Luftballons" (English version "99 Red Balloons").
Background & Career
She was born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in Hagen, Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany. She acquired her nickname, "Nena", an alternate version of the Spanish word "niña" (little girl) at the age of 3 during a vacation to Spain.
Her first band was called The Stripes. They had a very minor hit with the song "Ecstasy" but never managed to achieve broad success.
The band Nena was formed with Nena (singer), Rolf Brendel (drums), Carlo Karges (guitar), Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (keyboard) and Jürgen Dehmel (bass) in Berlin in 1981. Their first hit single, "Nur geträumt" ("Only In Dreams"), came in 1982 after appearing on the German television program Musikladen.
The following year they released their self-titled first album, which contained the singles "99 Luftballons" and "Leuchtturm" ("Lighthouse"). "99 Luftballons" was a #1 hit in many countries (including the U.S.) and an English version of the song, "99 Red Balloons", was recorded, and retains some measure of cultural influence, being referred to in current music - the Guster track Amsterdam. The song also featured in an episode of Scrubs, and the film, Grosse Point Blank. Nena then released ? (Fragezeichen) in 1984, Feuer und Flamme ("Fire And Flame", means "to be all for it") in 1985, Eisbrecher ("Icebreaker") in 1986. During her success in the UK, Nena was also famous for having hairy armpits, which in the UK was unusual for a woman to have. Her performance on the television show Top of The Pops there has become something of a classic, renowned for her hairy armpits and the leather trousers which she wore.
Nena is often considered to be a one hit wonder, for her phenomenal success with "99 Luftballons". In 2000, American TV station VH1 named her tenth in their list of one hit wonders. However, Nena achieved great success in Germany and as such fans protest against this label.
Nena started dating Swiss actor Benedict Freitag shortly after the breakup of the band in 1987, and together with him had a son, 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. She later had twins with Freitag, Larissa-Maria and Sakias Manuel.
After splitting with Benedict Freitag, Nena began a relationship with drummer and music producer Philipp Palm of Stuttgart, with whom she has two children, Samuel Vincent and Simeon Joel. The couple and the four children live together in Hamburg.
Throughout the 1990's, Nena released solo albums, including some children's albums. In 1999, Nena voiced the character Lea in the animated film Tobias Totz und sein Löwe.
In 2002, Nena celebrated her 20th stage anniversary with the album "Nena feat. Nena," a CD of self-covers of old hits. This jubilee album meant an incredible comeback for Nena that has hardly ever been seen before in German music business. Nena's 2005 album "Willst du mit mir gehn" ("Do You Wanna Date Me?") quickly achieved platinum status as well. The first single from "Willst du mit mir gehn", "Liebe ist" ("Love Is"), shot to Number 1 in the German charts in early 2005.
In 2006, Nena plans to found a Sudbury school in Hamburg.
Discography
Singles
- Nur geträumt (Only In Dreams), 1982
- 99 Luftballons, 1983
- Leuchtturm (Lighthouse), 1983
- ? (Fragezeichen) (Question Mark), 1983
- Rette Mich (Save Me), 1984
- Lass mich dein Pirat sein (Let Me Be Your Pirate), 1984
- Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann (Somehow, Somewhere, Sometime), 1984
- Feuer und Flamme (To Be All For It), 1985
- Haus der drei Sonnen (House Of The Three Suns), 1985
- Jung wie du (Young Like You), 1985
- Du kennst die Liebe nicht (You Don't Know Love), 1985
- Mondsong (Moon Song), 1986
- Engel der Nacht (Angel Of The Night), 1987
- Wunder gescheh'n (Miracles Happen), 1989
- Du bist überall (You Are Everywhere), 1989
- Im Rausch der Liebe (Carried Away By Love), 1989
- Lass mich dein Pirat sein (Remix'91), 1991
- Manchmal ist ein Tag ein ganzes Leben (Sometimes A Day Is A Whole Life), 1992
- Conversation, 1993
- Ohne Ende (Endless), 1993
- Viel zuviel Glück (Too Much Happiness), 1994
- Hol' mich zurück (Take Me Back), 1994
- Ich halt' dich fest (I'll Hold You Tight), 1994
- Weißes Schiff (Live) (White Boat), 1995
- Ganz gelassen... (Really Calm), 1997
- Alles was du willst (Everything You Want), 1997
- Was hast du in meinem Traum gemacht (What Did You Do In My Dream?), 1998
- Ich umarm' die ganze Welt (I'll Embrace The World), 1999
- Carpe diem, 2001
- Oldschool, Baby (feat. WestBam, 2002
- 99 Luftballons (New Version), 2003
- Leuchtturm (New Version), 2003
- Wunder geschehen (as Nena & Friends, 2003
- Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime (feat. Kim Wilde), 2003
- Nur geträumt (New Version) 2003
- Bang Bang, 2005 (feat. Toktok), 2004
- Schade (What A Pity), 2005 (feat. Sam Ragga Band), 2004
- Liebe ist (Love Is), 2005
- Willst du mit mir gehn (Do You Wanna to go with me), 2005
- Lass mich (Let Me Be), 2005
LPs
- The Stripes, 1980
- Nena, 1983
- ? (Fragezeichen) (Question Mark), 1984
- Feuer und Flamme (To Be All For It), 1985
- Eisbrecher (Icebreaker), 1986
- Wunder gescheh'n (Miracles Happen), 1989
- Komm lieber Mai... (Please Come, Dearest May), 1990
- Nena Die Band, 1991
- Bongo Girl, 1992
- Und alles dreht sich (And Everything's Rotating), 1994
- Nena singt die schönsten Kinderlieder (Nena Sings The Most Beautiful Children's Songs), 1994
- Nena Live, 1995
- Unser Apfelhaus (Our Applehouse), 1995
- Nena und die Bambus Bären Bande (Nena And The Bambus Bear Gang), 1996
- Jamma nich (Don't Whine), 1997
- Nenas Weihnachtsreise (Nena's Christmas Trip), 1997
- Wenn alles richtig ist dann stimmt was nicht (When Everything's Fine, Something Must Be Wrong), 1998
- Nena macht Rabatz (Nena Kicks Up A Fuss) , 1999
- Chokmah, 2001
- Nenas Tausend Sterne (Nena's Thousand Stars), 2002
- Nena feat. Nena, 2002
- Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (Madou And The Light Of Fantasy), 2002
- Nena feat. Nena Live, 2004
- Willst du mit mir gehn, 2005
Filmography
External links
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