Nico /

Nico (born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988) was a German singer, composer, fashion model, actress, and Warhol Superstar. She is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and her work as a solo artist from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. She also had roles in several films, including a cameo in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), as herself. She was related to Hermann Päffgen, who founded the Päffgen brewery in 1883 in Cologne. She died in July 1988, as a result of injuries sustained in a bicycling accident. Standing 5' 10", with chiseled features and porcelain skin, Nico rose to prominence as a fashion model as a teenager. After leaving school at the age of thirteen she began selling lingerie and was soon spotted by fashion insiders. A year later, her mother found her work as a model in Berlin. She soon became one of the top fashion models of the period. Her adopted name, 'Nico', which she used for most of her life, was given to her by photographer Herbert Tobias, who was photographing her on a modeling job.