He was known for his bizarre and visionary theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo that flaunted a receding hairline.

His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classical opera to post-punk covers of 1960s pop standards like Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes".

[2] He was raised by his single mother, Bettina Sperber, who had fled Essen, Rhine Province, for the Allgäu due to Allied bombing during World War II.

[10][11] In 1977, Nomi appeared in a satirical camp production of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold at Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theater Company as the Rheinmaidens and the Wood Bird.

[4][10] Nomi came to the attention of the East Village art scene on November 2, 1978 with his performance in "New Wave Vaudeville", a four-night event at Irving Plaza MC'd by artist David McDermott.

[13][12] Dressed in a skin-tight spacesuit with a clear plastic cape, Nomi sang the aria "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My heart opens to your voice") from Camille Saint-Saëns' opera Samson et Dalila.

Hoffman was a performer and MC in the second incarnation of New Wave Vaudeville and a close friend of Susan Hannaford and Tom Scully, who produced the show, and Ann Magnuson, who directed it.

Hoffman became Nomi's de facto musical director, assembling a band that included Page Wood from another New Wave vaudeville act, Come On, and Joe Katz, who was concurrently in The Student Teachers, the Accidents, and The Mumps.

[15] Nomi and Arias were at the Mudd Club when they were introduced to David Bowie, who hired them as performers and backing singers for his appearance on Saturday Night Live on December 15, 1979.

The collar helped cover the outbreaks of Kaposi's sarcoma on his neck, one of the numerous AIDS-related diseases Nomi developed toward the end of his life.

Za Bakdaz, a suite of home-studio recordings circa 1979 restored by Page Wood and George Elliott, was released posthumously in 2007.

[11] Filmmaker Andrew Horn and writer Jim Fouratt consider Nomi an important part of the 1980s East Village scene, which was a hotbed of development for punk rock music, the visual arts, and the avant-garde.

[26][27][28][29] In 2001, German pop duo Rosenstolz and English singer Marc Almond recorded a cover version of "Total Eclipse".

[37]" He is portrayed as one of two bodyguard henchmen of the leader of the villainous organization the Guild of Calamitous Intent, The Sovereign (shown to be David Bowie in the episode, or at least taking his form).

The henchmen (the other being Iggy Pop) seemingly assassinate The Sovereign (Nomi shown to have flight and a sonic scream as superpowers), only to be duped and later killed by him.