„Mám ráda květiny, vždycky si vzpomenu na hřbitov.“
Zdroj: [Witts, Richard, Nico: Život a lži jedné legendy, Votobia, Olomouc, 1994, 80-85619-80-6, 397, 231]
Nico byla německá hudebnice, zpěvačka, herečka, modelka a hudební skladatelka. Nejprve byla fotomodelkou a krátce poté se přestěhovala do Francie. Díky modelingu se dostala do dalších evropských zemí, například do Švýcarska, Španělska a Rakouska. Ze všech míst si Nico nejvíce oblíbila ostrov Ibiza, který často navštěvovala po většinu svého pozdějšího života a kde také zemřela. Na přelomu padesátých a šedesátých let se Nico začala angažovat i ve filmech. První větší rolí pro ni byla postava Nico Otzak ve filmu Sladký život italského režiséra Federica Felliniho. V šedesátých letech hrála v několika filmech Andyho Warhola a během sedmdesátých pak v různých filmech francouzského režiséra Philippa Garrela.
Ačkoliv Nico již počátkem šedesátých let chodila na hodiny zpěvu, až do roku 1965 se mu nevěnovala. V roce 1965 natočila v Anglii za pomoci Andrewa Looga Oldhama, který byl manažerem skupiny The Rolling Stones, svůj první singl. Později, když se přestěhovala do New Yorku, ji Andy Warhol představil skupině The Velvet Underground, které dělal manažera, a Nico s nimi začala zpívat. Jejich spolupráce vyvrcholila v albu The Velvet Underground & Nico, na kterém Nico zpívá hlavní vokály ve třech z celkových jedenácti písní. Album vyšlo v březnu 1967 a ve stejném roce Nico vydala své první sólové album nazvané Chelsea Girl. V následujících letech vydala pět dalších alb; na prvních třech a znovu na posledním ji doprovázel bývalý člen The Velvet Underground, multiinstrumentalista John Cale.
Zemřela v červenci 1988 na následky zranění při nehodě na kole. Její památku v pozdějších letech uctilo mnoho hudebníků, kteří zahráli na festivalu Life Along the Borderline: A Tribute to Nico pořádaném Johnem Calem v letech 2008, 2009, 2010 a 2013 v různých městech. Mezi vystupujícími byli například Sharon Van Etten, Mark Linkous, Kim Gordon, Lisa Gerrard nebo Peaches. Jako svůj vzor ji označily například Patti Smith nebo Siouxsie Sioux.
Wikipedia
„Mám ráda květiny, vždycky si vzpomenu na hřbitov.“
Zdroj: [Witts, Richard, Nico: Život a lži jedné legendy, Votobia, Olomouc, 1994, 80-85619-80-6, 397, 231]
„Kdybych nebyla Nico, byla bych teroristka.“
Zdroj: [Witts, Richard, Nico: Život a lži jedné legendy, Votobia, Olomouc, 1994, 80-85619-80-6, 397, 326]
„Opravdový umělec se musí sebeničit.“
Originál: (en) A true artist must self-destruct.
Zdroj: [Hogan, Peter, The Rough Guide to the Velvet Underground, Rough Guides, London, 2007, 1, 300, 978-1-84353-588-1, anglicky, 198]
Describing her tumultuous experiences of 1967, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Kontext: You could say it like was like a fairy tale at the time; Andy would be the good fairy, and Jim would play the giant, Brian would be the witch, Paul McCartney would be the frog who turns into a prince, no, it would have to be the other way round. Well, it didn't seem like a fairy tale at the time. It was a lot of hassle. But I learned a lot of things, and I began to compose my own songs.
“The same things happen in different guises.”
On the decade which she fit in best, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Kontext: I would say the time has not yet come. I rebel against the present, whenever it is, because I have not seen any change, other than oppositions grow stronger. I would be a communist if it was more anarchist. Otherwise, I see only everything as an absurdity, so I can laugh and cry. I have lived in a continuation, from birth and growing towards death in a chain that cannot end. I don't see this decade then that decade. The same things happen in different guises. I am bohemian but at one time you would call me a hippie or a punk. I remain a bohemian whatever you call me. So maybe I am locked in the fifties. But I have never desired to grow up from my world as a child, which is when things are most clear and utopian. They are clear because you are at the center and you see all around you. When you get older you lose your sight … I lost something of my childishness when people around me start dying. Four of my family died within a year.
“It is better to be addicted to opium than to be addicted to money.”
On her "soul brother" Jim Morrison, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Kontext: I think he was the first man I met who was not afraid of me in some way. We were very similar, like brother and sister. Our spirits are similar. We were the same height and the same age, almost … He was well read and he introduced me to William Blake and also the English Romantic poets who came after him. Jim liked Shelley. I preferred Coleridge. In fact, he is my favoured poet of all time. Did you know they were all drug addicts? Coleridge was addicted to opium. It is better to be addicted to opium than to be addicted to money.
On her "soul brother" Jim Morrison, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Kontext: I think he was the first man I met who was not afraid of me in some way. We were very similar, like brother and sister. Our spirits are similar. We were the same height and the same age, almost … He was well read and he introduced me to William Blake and also the English Romantic poets who came after him. Jim liked Shelley. I preferred Coleridge. In fact, he is my favoured poet of all time. Did you know they were all drug addicts? Coleridge was addicted to opium. It is better to be addicted to opium than to be addicted to money.
On the decade which she fit in best, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Kontext: I would say the time has not yet come. I rebel against the present, whenever it is, because I have not seen any change, other than oppositions grow stronger. I would be a communist if it was more anarchist. Otherwise, I see only everything as an absurdity, so I can laugh and cry. I have lived in a continuation, from birth and growing towards death in a chain that cannot end. I don't see this decade then that decade. The same things happen in different guises. I am bohemian but at one time you would call me a hippie or a punk. I remain a bohemian whatever you call me. So maybe I am locked in the fifties. But I have never desired to grow up from my world as a child, which is when things are most clear and utopian. They are clear because you are at the center and you see all around you. When you get older you lose your sight … I lost something of my childishness when people around me start dying. Four of my family died within a year.
Roses in the Snow
In 1968, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Her response when asked about her sense of rhythm in songwriting, as quoted in Life and Lies of an Icon (1995) by Richard Witts.
Roses in the Snow
As quoted in Up-tight: the Velvet Underground story (2002) by Victor Bockris and Gerard Malanga.