Nico

Artist Image: Nico
Attribution
Image Credit: GanMed64 (Flickr: Nico (The Velvet Underground) - Lampeter University - November 1985), CC BY 2.0

Biography

Nico (born Christa Päffgen; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988) was a German singer-songwriter, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s. She is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), and her work as a solo artist from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. She also had roles in several films, including a cameo in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), as herself. Nico died in July 1988, as a result of injuries sustained in a cycling accident while vacationing in Ibiza with her son.

Details

Item Name Item Details
Year Formed
Number of Albums 10
Record Label
Website
Wikipedia Nico on Wikipedia
Social Networks

Trivia

Nico was a model for whom in the 1950s?

Coco Chanel

... In her 49 years, shed lived many lifetimes. She had been a model for Coco Chanel in the 1950s, acted for Fellini, sung with The Velvet Underground, a...
What group did Nico sing with?

The Velvet Underground

...odel for Coco Chanel in the 1950s, acted for Fellini, sung with The Velvet Underground , and become a raw and uncompromising solo artist. Yet when the ...
Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop all fell for what at one time or another?

statuesque beauty

...e: Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop all fell for the statuesque beauty at one time or another, but her story is not their story. A new b...
What is the name of a new biography about the artist?

You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone

...other, but her story is not their story. A new biography, You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone , named for a line in her 1970 track Afraid, makes clear ...
What song did You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone feature?

Afraid

...You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone, named for a line in her 1970 track Afraid , makes clear what a driven, creative and fearlessly original artist she...
What was the name of her biographer?

Jennifer Otter Bickerdike

... This woman had such an interesting life, says her biographer, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike . Her father, Wilhelm Päffgen, was recruited into the Wehrmach...
In what year did Wilhelm Pfeiffgen die?

1942

...nteresting life, says her biographer, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike. Her father, Wilhelm Päffgen, was recruited into the Wehrmacht and was killed in 1942 ....
What was the paradox of Nico's career?

she herself never attained the fame of her peers

...ers of the 60s. The paradox of her career was that she herself never attained the fame of her peers , pursuing a distinctly individualistic and uncompr...
What country was Nico born in?

Germany

... known for her romantic links with numerous men. Born in Nazicontrolled Germany , Nico was raised by her mother after her fathers tragic and untimely d...
What year did Nico move to Berlin with her family?

1946

...was raised by her mother after her fathers tragic and untimely death. In 1946 , she moved to Berlin with her family and by the age of 15, she had start...
What was Nico's first career?

acting

...ion house. Assignments took her to Ibiza and Italy where Nico began her acting career, with roles in Por primera vez and La Tempesta. She later embark...
For whom did Nico first record?

Andrew Loog Oldham

.... She later embarked on her music career, initially recording for Andrew Loog Oldham . She soon began her solo career, singing folkrockflavored tracks ...
What album did Nico sing folkrockflavored tracks for?

Chelsea Girl

...began her solo career, singing folkrockflavored tracks for her debut Chelsea Girl album and eventually began writing her own songs. In her personal li...
What did Nico suffer in her personal life?

great tragedies

...krockflavored tracks for her debut Chelsea Girl album and eventually began writing her own songs. In her personal life, Nico suffered great tragedies ....
How long has Nico had an unimposing solo career?

more than two decades

...and has had an unimposing, albeit admirable, solo career lasting more than two decades . Born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, Germany in 1938, her father w...
Where was Christa Päffgen born?

Cologne, Germany

...solo career lasting more than two decades. Born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, Germany in 1938, her father was a soldier who had his marriage annulled be...
In what year was Christa Päffgen born?

1938

...sting more than two decades. Born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, Germany in 1938 , her father was a soldier who had his marriage annulled before the birth...
In what city did Nicos family relocate to in 1946?

Berlin

...fore the birth of his only daughter. Nicos family relocated to downtown Berlin in 1946, where she attended school and started her modelling career. Sh...
When did Nico move to England?

1965

...lle magazines. Career and Musical Achievements: Nico moved to England in 1965 , and signed a contract with Immediate Records under the guidance of Roll...
Who was the founder of Rolling Stones?

Brian Jones

...t with Immediate Records under the guidance of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones . After her first single Im Not Saying failed to chart, she relocated...
What magazines did Nico work for?

Vogue and Elle

...to Paris and began working for several fashion publications such as Vogue and Elle magazines. Career and Musical Achievements: Nico moved to England i...
Who helped Nico record her debut album?

Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale

...s for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale . Her 1969 followup, The Marble Index, was a dramatic d...
What was the name of Chelsea Girl's 1969 follow-up album?

The Marble Index

...e from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 followup, The Marble Index , was a dramatic departure that unveiled her doomladen, gothic pers...
Along with Lou Reed and John Cale, who contributed to the songs on Chelsea Girl?

Jackson Browne

...lavored songs for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne , Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 followup, The Marble Index, was ...
What was the cause of her death?

cerebral hemorrhage

... Drama of Exile and the more successful Camera Obscura were her only coherent studio efforts until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988....
In what year did she pass away?

1988

... Drama of Exile and the more successful Camera Obscura were her only coherent studio efforts until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988 ....
Who suggested that Nico start writing her own material?

Jim Morrison

... she started a solo career and released Chelsea Girl. Nico's friend, Jim Morrison , suggested that she start writing her own material. She then compose...
What instrument did Nico compose songs on?

harmonium

... that she start writing her own material. She then composed songs on a harmonium , not traditionally a rock instrument. John Cale of The Velvet Undergr...
What was Wilhelm's religion?

Catholic

...wealthy Päffgen Kölsch master brewer family dynasty in Cologne and was Catholic , while Grete came from a lowerclass background and was Protestant. Whe...
What religion was Grete?

Protestant

...d was Catholic, while Grete came from a lowerclass background and was Protestant . When Nico was two years old, she moved with her mother and grandfath...
What was Nico's father's occupation?

soldier

...Her father, Wilhelm, a soldier during the war, sustained head injuries and ended his life in a psychiatric institution as per some sources. However, a...
Where did Nico move to in 1946?

downtown Berlin

...died in a concentration camp. In 1946, Nico and her mother moved to downtown Berlin , where her mother worked as a seamstress. At the age of 15, she wa...
What occupation did her mother work as?

seamstress

...and her mother moved to downtown Berlin, where her mother worked as a seamstress . At the age of 15, she was raped by an American sergeant while workin...
At what age was she raped by an American sergeant while working for the U.S. Air Force?

15

...o downtown Berlin, where her mother worked as a seamstress. At the age of 15 , she was raped by an American sergeant while working for the U.S. Air For...
At what age was Nico discovered by photographer Herbert Tobias?

16

... Even Without Makeup The Sexiest Men Of 2020, Ranked Career At the age of 16 , Nico was discovered by photographer Herbert Tobias during a fashion show...
Where did Nico move to after being discovered?

Paris

...rapher Herbert Tobias during a fashion show in Berlin. Soon she moved to Paris and started working for Tempo, Vogue, Vie Nuove, Elle, Mascotte Spettac...
Where did Nico leave her job and move to?

New York City

... promote their products. However, Nico abandoned the job and fled to New York City . After featuring in numerous TV advertisements, she landed a minor ...
When did Alberto Lattuada's flick La Tempesta release?

1958

... a minor role in Alberto Lattuada's flick La Tempesta, which released in 1958 . Later that year, she also starred in Rudolph Maté's For the First Time ...
How many pages of this book feel like it was recycled from previous books?

80

...l things here and there to justify reading it. Be forewarned however that 80 of this book feels like it was recycled, if not copypasted, from previous...
The book feels like what?

a job

...8, as if nothing happened during these three years. This book feels like a job , not a labor of love. The author is clearly not a lifelong VU (or Nico)...
What song was inspired by her son?

My Only Child

...ly anything about the actual recording. You will learn that her song My Only Child was inspired by her son Ari, and that Mutterlein (Mother in German)...
What group did she sing with in the 1960s?

Velvet Underground

...She remains best known for her brief tenure as a singer with the Velvet Underground and her appearance in Andy Warhol's films and stage productions du...
Who was interested in her?

fashion designers and film directors

...sque beauty and aloof demeanor attracted the interest of fashion designers and film directors . By the last decade of her life, however, she had become...
What kind of voice did Nico have?

deep contralto

...her selfdestructive habits as her music. Gifted with an unnervingly deep contralto voice, Nico developed into a singersongwriter of disturbing power, ...
What city is the date of her birth?

Cologne

...g to most sources, she was born Christa Päffgen on October 16, 1938, in Cologne , Germany. (Some sources give 1943 or 1944 as the year of her birth; a ...
What did Nico and her mother suffer through the Allied bombing campaign in Cologne?

After her father's death

...nd died during World War II, possibly in a concentration camp. After her father's death , Nico and her mother suffered through the Allied bombing campa...
Who wrote Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio?

James Young

...Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio by James Young , 1999, Bloomsbury Publishing. True lies The life of Christa Päffgen is riddled with paradoxes ...
Who wrote Nico, the Life and lies of an Icon?

Richard Witts

...though conceived in wedlock, she was born illegitimate. According to Richard Witts comprehensive biography, Nico, the Life and lies of an Icon, Christ...
What did Grete and Christa have to rely on for support?

Gretes extended rural family

...that had kept them going, Grete and Christa had to depend on Gretes extended rural family for support, and moved to Lübbenau in the country outside Be...
Where did Christa and Grete move to?

Lübbenau

...ad to depend on Gretes extended rural family for support, and moved to Lübbenau in the country outside Berlin, where Grete found work in a seaplane fa...
What was Grete's occupation?

seaplane factory

...übbenau in the country outside Berlin, where Grete found work in a seaplane factory . Work was compulsory, and manufacture distributed about the countr...
What kind of love did Christa have for nature in Lübbenau?

enduring

... short period of almost normal family life in Lübbenau gave Christa an enduring love of nature, and also of graveyards, she spent much time amongst th...
What was Christa's grandfather's occupation?

railway signalman

...al church. Stories, too, she heard from her grandfather, the local railway signalman , and formed the idea of storytelling as something that was perhap...
What did she need to do if she didnt get her way?

making a big fuss

... truth. Christa was already showing her domineering traits, always wanting to win, needing to control, and making a big fuss if she didnt get her way....
Who was annoyed when Nico got bigger billing than the VU?

Reed

...of the singer, You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone (Hachette Books, 31), Reed was annoyed when on several occasions Nico got bigger billing than the V...
What was Reed annoyed about?

Nico got bigger billing than the VU

...te Books, 31), Reed was annoyed when on several occasions Nico got bigger billing than the VU . The legend always had just enough fuel to keep the show...
Where did Nico settle in the 80s?

Manchester

...eaving the scene around Warhol at the end of the 60s, Nico bounced around between Paris, New York, and Ibiza before settling in Manchester in the 80s....