German singer and songwriter Nena was born 63 years ago as Gabriele Susanne Kerner in Hagen and has 4 children.
As a teenager, Nena used to listen to music by her favourite English rock band The Rolling Stones. Her musical career commenced in 1979 when she auditioned for lead singer of a group named ‘The Stripes’. After the band split in 1982, Nena was offered a record deal, moved to Berlin with her then boyfriend and formed a band bearing her nickname i.e. ‘Nena’.
Just a month after the band formation, their first single ‘Nur getraumt’ was released and became an immediate hit in their native country and peaked to number 2 on the charts. In 1983, the group rose to international fame with the number one hit ’99 Luftballons’ which was also sung in the English language, named ’99 Red Balloons’. The band continued with successful tracks in several countries around Europe until 1987 when they disbanded.
Nena then pursued a solo career and in late 1989 released her first album, which was of moderate success. During the 90s, she had 4 more albums which, however, did not achieve the expected success. Then, in 2002, Nena’s career took a positive turn when some tracks from her next album entered some European charts. After this career revamp, Nena went on to release 4 albums in German and 2 in English until 2020. Also, one of the English albums features cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, amongst others.
During her long career, Nena embarked on several tours, mainly around Europe, as well as performed in other artists’ concerts and music festivals. She appeared in and hosted some TV shows, acted in a musical comedy movie, voiced characters in animated films and even co-wrote an autobiography. Nena also used to support several charitable organisations, particularly those supporting children and animals.