More albums from Nena
About Nena
Hometown
Hagen, Germany
Formed
1982
Genre
Pop
German pop singer Nena and her band by the same name had an international hit with their 1983 antiwar anthem “99 Luftballoons,” which reached No. 1 in West Germany and across Europe and peaked at No. 2 in the US.
• Born Gabriele Susanne Kerner, Nena got her start in music when she was recruited to sing in a German pop group called The Stripes. When the band broke up, their label offered Nena a record contract, and she and her then-boyfriend Rolf Brendel formed Nena.
• Their first release was the 1982 single “Nur geträumt,” which appeared on their self-titled debut LP the following year.
• Nena also included “99 Luftballoons,” a song about balloons triggering a nuclear war. It was inspired by a Rolling Stones concert in West Berlin in 1982, which ended with Mick Jagger releasing a bunch of balloons into the air.
• Nena also recorded an English-language version, “99 Red Balloons,” with lyrics by Irish musician Kevin McAlea. Though the English version reached No. 1 in the UK, the band was dissatisfied with the translation, which they felt changed the meaning of the song.
• “99 Luftballoons” proved popular enough to serve as the title track to a 1984 compilation of Nena’s music released as the band’s first international album. The compilation includes the group’s second English-language song, “Just a Dream,” as well as tracks from Nena and from the group’s second album of new material, ?, which had come out earlier in 1984.
• The band released two more German albums and one more international LP before splitting in 1987. Nena released her first solo album, Wunder gescheh’n, in 1989.
• She has released a steady stream of new albums ever since. After middling chart success in the ’90s, Nena’s albums in the 2000s consistently landed in the German Top 10, including three No. 2 LPs: 2002’s Nena feat. Nena, an album of new versions of her hits; 2005’s Willst du mit mir gehn; and 2012’s Du bist gut.
Members of Nena include, or have included, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Nena Kerner, and Rolf Brendel.
Nena has also released music as a member of The Stripes and Marlon + Freunde.
Influenced by NenaNena has influenced the music of Hubert Junghain, kla:r, åssie and more.
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