The band’s debut single,"Nur Getraumt", became very successful and appeared on numerous European charts (Germany, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland). The artists’ career finally took off.
In 1983, Nena presented a debut album, Nena. The same year, musicians gave their first concert at a stadium in Mannheim. Soon after that, they embarked on a tour of Europe to promote the LP. Their second European tour began in 1984 after the release of the second successful LP, Fragezeichen.
In 1985, musicians recorded a new album, It’s All in the Game, which unlike their previous pop work featured pop-jazz, mainstream and fusion music. They invited a famous saxophone player, David Sanborn, to help them record some of the songs for the LP. After the release, the artists embarked on a world tour. The next album, recorded in 1986, became the band’s last. Eisbrecher was less successful than the other three LPs.
In 1989, Gabriele decided to pursue a solo career using Nena as a pseudonym. Her first album, which came out the same year, got the name Wunder gescheh’n. The first solo tour the singer embarked on began in 1993. After the tour, she stopped giving concerts for several years to spend time with her family. The singer gave birth to four children. During that time, the artist was recording studio songs. In 1992, she released an LP, Bongo Girl. Then in 1994, she presented Und alles dreht sich.
Gabriele came back on stage in 1997. The same year, she recorded a new LP, Jamma nich, which reached the 29th spot of the national chart. At that time, many fans wanted to book Nena for private events, but she was too busy with studio work.
Before 2007, Nena recorded several more albums, among which were Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt was nich, Chokmah, Nena feat. Nena, and Willst du mit mir gehn.
In 2007, she presented a cover album, Cover Me, which featured covers for the songs of such famous artists as Rammstein, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones.
Since 2009, all singer’s work was released with the assistance of her own label, The Laugh & Peas Company. The same year, she presented a hit album, Made in Germany, which earned gold status in her native country. The single "In meinem Leben" became a big hit and came in fourth on the national chart.
In 2012, Nena presented a new album, Du bist gut, which settled on the second spot of the German chart. The next successful album came out in 2015. She called it Oldschool. After the release, Nena took a short break from studio work.
During the break, the singer released several live albums and worked with such artists as Zara Larsson and David A. Stewart.
In 2019, Nena was invited to assist the group Schiller with the recording of their album, Morgenstund. The LP topped the German chart and became very popular in Switzerland and Austria.
While working on her music career, Nena also tried acting. She also lent her voice to characters of such animated movies as Return to Never Land, Arthur and the Invisibles, and Eragon.
