Nina Hagen, born Catherina Hagen, is the daughter of the well-known GDR actress Eva-Maria Hagen. In the early 1970s, after training at the Studio for Popular Music, she embarked upon a successful career as a pop singer. After Wolf Biermann was expatriated in November 1976, she and her mother were among the many GDR artists who signed an “Open Letter” in expression of solidarity. As a consequence, she was expatriated herself. In West Germany, Nina Hagen became known as a versatile and eccentric pop, rock, and punk singer.