Nico

Nico (1938 - 1988)

Becoming a model in Germany as a teenager, Christa Paffgen, was named Nico by the photographer Herbert Tobias and went on a successful career in Paris working with Chanel and Lanvin. Settled in New York, in 1955, she took acting classes and appeared as a minor role, in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, in 1959. In 1965, she met Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones who introduced her to Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey with whom she collaborated for their experimental films such as Chealsea Girls. She also rapidly became the Velvet Undergound's leading singer but soon preferred a solo career with her 1967 album, Chelsea Girl with contributions by Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. During the 1970s, Nico becomes the French director Philippe Garrel's partner and muse. The icy bohemian icy rose to superstar junkie icon with her androgynous style à la Marlene Dietrich, her deep Teutonic voice but also her sad languid presence enhanced by her battle against drug addictions, her introspectively dark music and the conflict following the birth of her son certainly fathered by Alain Delon who always denied his paternity.

 

Nico by Simon Bedford at John Cale's apartment for an abandoned album cover idea, 1974