Nina Hagen is a German singer, songwriter and actress from Berlin. Born in 1955, she is known for a theatrical vocal style and for her association with punk and Neue Deutsche Welle in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is often described as the “Godmother of German Punk”.

Early life and acting work

Hagen is born and raised in East Berlin, in the German Democratic Republic. She begins her career as an actress and appears in several German films alongside her mother, Eva-Maria Hagen. She also works as a voice-over actress.

Music career

Hagen joins the band Automobil early in her career and records the schlager single “Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen”. After her stepfather Wolf Biermann’s East German citizenship is revoked in 1976, she moves with him to Hamburg.

She then signs with CBS Records and forms the Nina Hagen Band. The group’s self-titled debut album appears in 1978 and sells over 250,000 copies. A second album, Unbehagen, follows before the band splits in 1979.

In 1982, Hagen signs a new CBS contract and releases her first solo album, NunSexMonkRock, which becomes her first record to chart in the United States. She follows it with Fearless in 1983 and Nina Hagen in Ekstasy in 1985.

In 1989, she signs with Mercury Records and releases Nina Hagen, Street and Revolution Ballroom. She later returns with Return of the Mother in 2000.

Later work and writing

Alongside music, Hagen writes three autobiographies: Ich bin ein Berliner, Nina Hagen: That's Why the Lady Is a Punk and Bekenntnisse. She is also known for activism in human and animal rights.

Style and recognition

Hagen’s work spans punk, punk rock, post-punk, new wave, Neue Deutsche Welle and rock. She is associated with the acts Automobil, Nina Hagen Band and Fritzens Dampferband, and releases music through Flying Madonna Music and New Times Music.