Nena is the stage name of Gabriele Susanne Kerner, a German singer born on 24 March 1960 in Hagen, West Germany. She rose to fame in the early 1980s as the front woman of the band Nena, one of the defining acts of the Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) movement.
The band's 1983 single "99 Luftballons" became a number one hit in West Germany and a worldwide success, topping the UK charts and reaching number two in the United States. To this day it remains the most successful German language song in international pop history. After the band split, Nena went on to a long and popular solo career, and she is still one of Germany's best loved pop artists.