A shawm band performed during her birth and the music of Billie Holiday was played on the record player at her home.
[citation needed] She and her father, a communist, would participate in Easter marches and sing worker's songs.
[clarification needed] Her book "Avanti Popoloch: Eine sozialistische Kindheit im Ruhrgebiet" (ISBN 3938834331) was published in 2008.
[4] In "Gott schmiert keine Stullen", published in 2012 by Rowohlt Polaris, she recollects her childhood.
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung described her as the "Billie Holiday of structural change [...] With a voice as black as coal..." ("Billie Holiday des Strukturwandels [...] Mit einer Stimme schwarz wie Kohle..."), and likened her to a "female Helge" ("weiblicher Helg"), for the breadth of her musical experience.