GERMAN PUNK PIONEER NINA HAGEN ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN OUT MARCH 27
GRÖNLAND RECORDS
Nina Hagen is back—and with her comes a gospel firestorm impossible to ignore. Fifteen years after her cult album Personal Jesus, the iconic punk pioneer returns once again to one of her greatest passions: gospel music. With Highway To Heaven, her 20th studio album, she presents a work that is less a return than a bold, independent, and uncompromising new departure: 100% Nina.
“The songs come flying to us,” says Nina Hagen. And indeed, the 14 selected pieces feel as though they were made for her. She dives deep into the treasury of gospel and focuses on the voices that have accompanied her for decades: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the trailblazer of rock ’n’ roll; Mahalia Jackson, whose expressive power remains unmatched; and the great classics of Southern Gospel, which Nina casts into new light through her interpretation. The title track “There’s A Highway To Heaven”—not a nod to AC/DC but a clear homage to Sister Rosetta—becomes a personal highlight, newly interpreted with her longtime friend Gitte Hænning, who has inspired Nina since the 1970s.
Nana Mouskouri also joins the album as a special artistic collaborator. Together they interpret “Never Grow Old,” a song that once moved the likes of Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin. Nina brings a new color to this classic—a thread that runs throughout the entire album. “Never Grow Old” gains a touch of Americana, “Dust on the Bible” receives a warm reggae inflection, and in “Somebody Prayed for Me,” Nina lets her punk roots flare up: direct, honest, and bursting with energy. Another standout guest is blues and rock singer-songwriter Daniel Welbat, who joins Nina on the powerful, blues-drenched gospel anthem “Hand It Over.”
With “Alle wollen in den Himmel,” Nina sets a personal marker: she adapts the song “Everybody Wanna Go to Heaven” into German and adds a verse about Bertolt Brecht, whose theatrical works guided her in her youth toward the Bible, spirituality, and social questions. Here, it becomes clear how deeply Nina’s artistic path, her biography, and her spiritual quest are intertwined.
Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Nina opens the door—direct, passionate, and entirely in her own way.
The highway is clear.
Nina Hagen
Highway To Heaven
(Grönland Records)
Release Date: March 27, 2026
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