Chvrches‘ Lauren Mayberry has covered Nena’s ’99 Luftballons’ in Munich – watch the footage below.
Currently on her solo tour, Mayberry has been performing a unique cover for every city she visits. Recently, she’s performed Depeche Mode in Prague and The 1975’s ‘Paris’ in Paris. In the NME review of her London stop, Mayberry performed a cover of the Spice Girls’ ‘Viva Forever’. She has also managed to cover Madonna at each solo show, having kicked off her first show with her version of ‘Like A Prayer’.
In Munich, the Scottish singer unveiled her cover of ’99 Luftballons’ on October 13, which she sang entirely in German. “I’m very sorry in advance,” she joked.
Nena’s surprise hit, originally recorded in German, managed to top the US Cash Box chart when it was first released in 1983. The English version was released a year later, and went on to top the UK Singles Charts as ’99 Red Balloons’.
Mayberry is currently embarking on her solo tour, where the singer has released two singles so far: piano ballad ‘Are You Awake?’ and the more upbeat ‘Shame’. The Chvrches frontwoman recently spoke to NME about her decision to go solo, stating that “it was born out of things that I couldn’t or wouldn’t write in the band.”
“There are a lot of specific things about the female experience that won’t apply to Iain and Martin,” she told NME.
“Obviously they have been very supportive of some of that making its way into Chvrches’ music, but sometimes I don’t want to sing about certain things or perform in a certain way when I’m on stage with men – if that doesn’t sound terrible. They’re the nicest men, but sometimes it’s not a conversation that I’m comfortable having fully in that context.”
61