Nena

On 27 October 2026 Nena will perform at SPOT/De Oosterpoort in Groningen. Gabriele Susanne Kerner, better known as Nena, broke through in the early 1980s as the frontwoman of the eponymous band within the Neue Deutsche Welle. With 99 Luftballons from 1983 she became known well beyond Germany; an English-language version was also released. After the band dissolved she launched a solo career, pursuing pop and pop-rock in which the synth signature of her early years remained audible. Records such as Wunder gescheh’n, Nena and later Nena feat. Nena mark that trajectory, with re-recordings and collaborations that gave her repertoire a new sound.

On stage, Nena and her band perform a set that places timeless material from the 1980s alongside more recent songs, including tracks from Willst du mit mir gehn, Made in Germany and Oldschool. Expect melodic pop, driving choruses and, above all, German-language songs, with room both for the tune everyone knows and for tracks that show how her music has evolved. In Groningen that balance between synth-pop heritage and contemporary pop-rock comes together in a show that links the story behind 99 Luftballons with the work that followed.