Nico
One of the most fascinating figures of rock's fringes, Nico hobnobbed, worked, and was romantically linked with an incredible assortment of the most legendary entertainers of the '60s. The paradox of her career was that she herself never attained the fame of her peers, pursuing a distinctly individualistic and uncompromising musical career that was uncommercial, but wholly admirable and influential. Nico first rose to fame as a European supermodel, also landing a bit part in Fellini's La Dolce Vita film and giving birth to a son by Alain Delon. In 1965, she attracted the attention of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who gave her a chance to record for his Immediate label, though the resulting single, which also featured Brian Jones and Jimmy Page on guitars, flopped. Shortly afterward, she moved to New York, where Andy Warhol installed her as a vestigial presence and occasional lead singer for the Velvet Underground. The band never really accepted her as a bona fide member and she departed in 1967, but not before contributing unforgettable deadpan vocals to three of the songs on their classic 1967 debut album.
Nico embarked on a solo career, recording folk-rock-flavored songs for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 follow-up, The Marble Index, was a dramatic departure that unveiled her doom-laden, gothic persona, produced by Cale and prominently featuring her deep vocals, impenetrable lyrics, and ghostly harmonium. Her subsequent '70s albums explored much the same territory, with assistance from Cale and influential art rockers like Eno and Phil Manzanera. Her career fell into disarray during the rest of the '70s and the '80s as she struggled with a massive drug habit and tangled personal life. She released several live albums on various labels, but the ill-planned Drama of Exile and the more successful Camera Obscura were her only coherent studio efforts until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988.
The original goth rocker, Nico's albums are demanding and bleak, but map a unique and starkly powerful vision that has become more influential with age. An intimate of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, the Velvet Underground, the Stones, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and others, her fascinating story is recounted in the biography Nico: The Life & Lies of an Icon by Richard Witts, published in Great Britain by Virgin books; The End by James Young is a seedy look at her drug-addled final years by a member of her touring band.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
Discography
409 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 1 jan. 1966
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in24-Bit/192 kHz Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary Remaster (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 1 jan. 1966
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary
Rock - Released by Verve on 1 jan. 1966
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Desertshore
Alternative en Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on 1 dec. 1970
Available in24-Bit/192 kHz Stereo -
The Marble Index
Alternative en Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on 1 nov. 1968
Available in24-Bit/192 kHz Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Polydor on 15 okt. 1967
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in24-Bit/192 kHz Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Polydor on 15 okt. 1967
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Drama of Exile
Punk en New Wave - Released by Modern Harmonic on 11 feb. 2022
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
BBC Peel Session 1971 (BBC Peel Session 1971)
Folk - Released by Gearbox Records on 5 aug. 2020
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Universal Records on 15 okt. 1967
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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At the Live Inn, Tokyo '86 (Live)
Rock - Released by Culture Factory (France). on 20 apr. 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Technology (Boymerang Remix) (2024 Remaster)
Drum 'n' bass - Released by No U Turn Records on 8 nov. 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
funk_master4.wav
Pop - Released by BMG Rights Management and Administration (Spain) S.L.U on 7 feb. 2025
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Moongazing
Pop - Released by BMG Rights Management and Administration (Spain) S.L.U on 22 nov. 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mbappé
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by iMD-Nico Musique on 1 jan. 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Allei im Paradies
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by 2809342 Records DK2 on 20 sep. 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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