NICO
Name: Christa Paffgen
Born: 16 October 1938 Cologne, Germany
Died: 18 July 1988 Ibiza, Spain
Genre(s) Art rock, Folk music
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Christa Paffgen (October 16, 1938? - July 18, 1988) was a German singer-songwriter,
fashion model, actress, keyboard player and Warhol Superstar, best known by her
pseudonym Nico.
As a musician, she is remembered for both her time in The Velvet Underground and
her solo work.
Nico made her early fame as a model. After leaving school at 13, she started
selling lingerie and soon was spotted by fashion insiders. A year later, her
mother found her work as a model in Berlin.
At the age of 15 Nico was raped by a US Air Force sergeant who was tried and
shot for his crime. Her song "Secret Side" from her album The End... is said to
be about this incident.
While on a modelling assignment in Ibiza, she met the photographer Herbert
Tobias, who christened her "Nico" after his ex-boyfriend, filmmaker Nico
Papatakis. She soon moved to Paris and worked for Vogue, Tempo,
Vie Nuove, Mascotte Spettacolo, Camera, Elle, and other fashion magazines in the
late 1950s.
She also claimed to have been briefly hired by Coco Chanel. Despite having
dropped out of school at an early age, Nico eventually became fluent in English,
Italian, Spanish, and French, in addition to German.
In 1965, Nico met The Rolling Stones' founder and guitarist Brian Jones and
recorded her first single, "I'm Not Sayin'" for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate
label.
Actor Ben Carruthers introduced her to Bob Dylan in Paris that summer. It is
said that Dylan wrote the song "I'll Keep It With Mine" for her shortly
afterwards.
She began working with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey on their experimental
films, including Chelsea Girls, The Closet, Sunset, and Imitation of Christ.
For over twenty years, Nico was a heroin addict. Biographer Richard Witts
speculated that the habit was caused by her traumatic experiences of war and of
being an illegitimate child.
In his book Nico-Songs They Never Play on the Radio, James Young, a member of
her band in the 1980s, recalls many examples of Nico's fiendish behaviour due to
the addiction. But just before her death, she had managed to kick the habit and
had embarked on a regimen of exercise and healthy eating.
On July 18, 1988, while on holiday with her son in Ibiza, Spain, Nico had a
minor heart attack while riding a bicycle, and hit her head as she fell. A
passing taxi driver found her unconscious, and had difficulty getting her
admitted to local hospitals. She was incorrectly diagnosed as suffering from
exposure, and she died the next day. X-rays later revealed a severe cerebral
hemorrhage as the cause of her death.
Nico was buried in her mother's plot in Grunewald Forest Cemetery in Berlin. A
few friends played a tape of "Matterlein", a song from Desertshore, at her
funeral.
Name: Christa Paffgen
Born: 16 October 1938 Cologne, Germany
Died: 18 July 1988 Ibiza, Spain
Genre(s) Art rock, Folk music
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Christa Paffgen (October 16, 1938? - July 18, 1988) was a German singer-songwriter,
fashion model, actress, keyboard player and Warhol Superstar, best known by her
pseudonym Nico.
As a musician, she is remembered for both her time in The Velvet Underground and
her solo work.
Nico made her early fame as a model. After leaving school at 13, she started
selling lingerie and soon was spotted by fashion insiders. A year later, her
mother found her work as a model in Berlin.
At the age of 15 Nico was raped by a US Air Force sergeant who was tried and
shot for his crime. Her song "Secret Side" from her album The End... is said to
be about this incident.
While on a modelling assignment in Ibiza, she met the photographer Herbert
Tobias, who christened her "Nico" after his ex-boyfriend, filmmaker Nico
Papatakis. She soon moved to Paris and worked for Vogue, Tempo,
Vie Nuove, Mascotte Spettacolo, Camera, Elle, and other fashion magazines in the
late 1950s.
She also claimed to have been briefly hired by Coco Chanel. Despite having
dropped out of school at an early age, Nico eventually became fluent in English,
Italian, Spanish, and French, in addition to German.
In 1965, Nico met The Rolling Stones' founder and guitarist Brian Jones and
recorded her first single, "I'm Not Sayin'" for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate
label.
Actor Ben Carruthers introduced her to Bob Dylan in Paris that summer. It is
said that Dylan wrote the song "I'll Keep It With Mine" for her shortly
afterwards.
She began working with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey on their experimental
films, including Chelsea Girls, The Closet, Sunset, and Imitation of Christ.
For over twenty years, Nico was a heroin addict. Biographer Richard Witts
speculated that the habit was caused by her traumatic experiences of war and of
being an illegitimate child.
In his book Nico-Songs They Never Play on the Radio, James Young, a member of
her band in the 1980s, recalls many examples of Nico's fiendish behaviour due to
the addiction. But just before her death, she had managed to kick the habit and
had embarked on a regimen of exercise and healthy eating.
On July 18, 1988, while on holiday with her son in Ibiza, Spain, Nico had a
minor heart attack while riding a bicycle, and hit her head as she fell. A
passing taxi driver found her unconscious, and had difficulty getting her
admitted to local hospitals. She was incorrectly diagnosed as suffering from
exposure, and she died the next day. X-rays later revealed a severe cerebral
hemorrhage as the cause of her death.
Nico was buried in her mother's plot in Grunewald Forest Cemetery in Berlin. A
few friends played a tape of "Matterlein", a song from Desertshore, at her
funeral.