Table of Contents
Nina & Mike left behind a lasting legacy in the German music scene. They were one of the most successful pop singing duos of the 1970s and their songs continue to be cherished by fans.
Despite their personal struggles, they will always be remembered for their catchy tunes and energetic performances.
Nina And Mike’s Biography
Nina & Mike was a hit duo consisting of Michaela Schähfer Hennemann born June 19, 1945, in Halle (Saale) and Lothar Schähfer also born January 14, 1944, in Mannheim which was particularly successful in the first half of the 1970s.
Mike and Nina met in 1963. Mike was a guitarist in a band at the time, and Nina joined as a singer. They married soon after and had two boys, Ralph and Frank. They began their singing career as a pair in 1966. They released their first single, “All Young People,” as “Joe & Jenny.”
They released two additional singles as “Michaela & Lothar” in 1969 (“Sha-la-la-la-la” and “Himmelblaue Sommerliebe”). Then they were discovered on the ZDF show “Showchance” performing “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
As a result, music producer Jack White offered them a record contract. Their debut song as Nina & Mike was a German cover version of the Kinks’ smash “Lola” released in 1970.
With their German cover version of Zager and Evans’ song “In the Year 2525” in 1972, the duo received more notoriety. Their song “What Will Be in seven years” was about the next 100 years of a man and a woman’s love.
Their song “The Song of Love Goes Around the World” entered the top 20 of Germany’s sales hit parade in 1973. The next year, they had their biggest commercial success with “Travelling Musicians,” which charted for 25 weeks and peaked at number 5.
They were well-known for their numerous performances and television appearances, which included more than 30 appearances on the ZDF hit parade. For their efforts, they were given the “Golden Europe” by Saarland Radio in 1974.
The German recording of the George Baker Selection song “Paloma Blanca” gave them their second top ten hit.
Nina and Mike competed in the German preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976, finishing fourth with the song “Come, go with me.” Nina and Mike divorced the same year, but they continued to collaborate in the music industry. Peter Orloff took over as producer once their association with Jack White ended.
The pair bought a discotheque in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in 1979 and ran it till 1991. Many of their singing colleagues, including Wolfgang Petry, Jürgen Drews, Christian Anders, and Jürgen Marcus, performed at their disco club.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Nina and Mike continued to release music. They released ten albums and nearly 60 singles.
Nina’s Cause Of Death
Nina died unexpectedly from lung cancer in 2005, at the age of 59.
Mike’s Cause Of Death
Mike suffered from sadness and alcoholism after her death. He had a major stroke in 2013 that left him paralysed on one side. Mike died in 2015, ten years after Nina, at the age of 71.
He was buried close to her in Mannheim’s Käfertal district cemetery.
