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. She was expatriated thereafter. Nina Hagen also became famous in the West, where she became known as a versatile, multi-talented pop, rock, and punk singer.