Born on March 11: Nina Hagen, Germanic reggae punk

She was born in 1955 in East Berlin before the wall was erected. And she has always loved to challenge conventions…

In 1978, her debut eponymous album sold 250,000 copies in Germany. Infused with a hint of kitchen English, this somewhat chaotic but wonderfully eccentric record even allowed her to take on the role (and makeup) of the high priestess of punk across the Rhine. With her mad diva voice and shrill outbursts, she earned unexpected fame among fans of Klaus Nomi and even had an improbable hit with "African Reggae" (1979).

After her band's dissolution, her solo career took off in 1982. The punk oracle mellowed and resorted more and more to the English language. She gave up her piercing screeches to dive into rather unremarkable hard rock (1989) before vacillating between German and English. However, she never again evoked the hypnotic astonishment of her early days.

With a prolific discography of about twenty albums, Nina Hagen has watered down her wine a bit and regularly entertains by appearing in unexpected places. For example, she recorded Om Namah Shivay, a collection of Indian chants sold exclusively on her website, with the proceeds funding social projects in India. The singer, who is never short of words, is socially as well as politically engaged. It's no surprise then that in her discography, one can find a Personal Jesus (2010) or a Revolution Ballroom (1993).

Naturally, with her voice, she was bound to participate in an opera at some point. This was accomplished with an offbeat version of "The Threepenny Opera" by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in the early 2000s. Her performance was even praised by classical music authorities.
But, always alternating between fire and water, in recent years, Nina Hagen has teamed up with industrial metal bands like Apocalyptica (for a cover of Rammstein) and has shown that even at her venerable age, performing splits is still possible. As incredible as it sounds, she has recently added to her repertoire covers of Over The Rainbow and popular German songs from the 1930s. In Germany, the shadow of Marlene Dietrich and her Blue Angel inevitably reappear.

(MH with AK - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Nina Hagen in an interview at the Sheraton Hotel in Brussels, Belgium on 15 September 1980