The band was fashioned in 1982 when vocalist Gabriele Kerner got here to Berlin with drummer Rolf Brendel, her boyfriend on the time. There they assembled the opposite members of the band, which took its identify from their lead singer’s nickname (a corruption of the Spanish for “little lady”), which she had acquired as a toddler throughout a household vacation to Spain.
The band wrote all of their songs themselves, usually working in pairs. They turned in a single day sensations in Germany once they carried out their debut single “Nur geträumt” on German TV in August 1982, Nena herself carrying a particular quick crimson skirt.[1] The one reached #2 within the German charts, a place it occupied for six weeks, and likewise climbed excessive within the Austrian, Belgian, Dutch and Swiss charts. In early 1983 the follow-up single
“99 Luftballons” spent an additional 7 weeks at #2 earlier than lastly reaching the highest slot, a place the debut album (Nena) matched.
By the point the band launched its 2nd album (? (Fragezeichen)) in Germany in January 1984,
“99 Luftballons” was beginning to climb the US charts, the place it reached #2 and have become probably the most profitable non-English language tracks in US Billboard chart historical past. With the English model of the track (“99 Crimson Balloons”) attaining the #1 place within the UK,[8] the band turned internationally well-known and in 1984 gave concert events and made TV appearances in Scandinavia, UK, Spain and France in addition to a 7-date tour (on consecutive nights) of Japan.[9] [10] A global album (99 Luftballons) which comprised a mix of English variations of tracks from the primary two German albums, carried out respectably, reaching #31 within the UK charts in mid 1984.
Throughout 1984, Nena</herself all of the sudden attracted publicity for not shaving her armpits. Bemused on the consideration this generated, she shaved them instantly and has continued to take action ever since.
While having fun with worldwide prominence on the again of “99 Luftballons”, the band continued to take pleasure in home success in Germany with a string of hits in 1984 and the primary half of 1985. The ? (Fragezeichen) album matched the band’s debut album in making it to the highest spot and spawned two of the band’s greatest recognized and most profitable singles (the title monitor and “Rette mich”). Additionally they had success with a few songs which might ultimately be included on their third studio album, Feuer und Flamme, most notably “Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann”.