A tribute to iconic singer Nico on the 80th anniversary of her birth

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It’s hard not to be mesmerized by the German singer/model Nico. With her distinct statuesque look and monotone singing, Nico made her mark as a featured vocalist on the Velvet Underground’s iconic 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground and Nico. She only sang on three songs from the record, but they were also the most memorable: “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” “Femme Fatale,” and “I’ll Be Your Mirror.” After she was kicked out of the band after that one record, Nico made a series of albums that were very avant-garde and idiosyncratic, beginning with Chelsea Girl and through such haunting-sounding works as The Marble Index and Desertshore. Tragically, she died in 1988 in a bicycle accident in Ibiza. In this year marking what would’ve been the 80th anniversary of Nico’s birth, New Yorker Tammy Faye Starlite portrays the singer in the stage show Nico: An Evening of Light at Pangea Thursday, March 1.  Not only does she look like Nico with those blonde bangs and dark eyes, but Starlite sings Nico’s musical repertoire (with songs by Lou Reed, John Cale, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, and others) with both oomph and a convincing German accent. Having portrayed as Nico for a while now, Starlite accurately channels her subject’s style and personality to ‘T’ in what is sure will be an entertaining tribute to a pop culture legend.

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