Nina Hagen postpones France shows due to infection

German singer Nina Hagen

German punk pioneer Nina Hagen, who recently celebrated her 60th birthday, has called off a series of shows in France due to a dental infection.

The singer is suffering a "serious infection that leaves her physically unable to make the dates scheduled in March," said a message from a promoter of one of the shows in southwestern France.

Most of the shows were rescheduled for later this year.

On March 11, Hagen celebrated her 60th birthday with friends and family at the Berliner Ensemble, the theatre founded by playwright Bertolt Brecht in East Berlin after World War II.

Hagen defected to West Germany in 1976 following the expulsion of her stepfather, activist singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann. From there, she landed in London just as punk erupted on the music scene.

Renowned for her raucous, uninhibited stage show, she courted controversy with stunts such as feigning masturbation on a television chat show.

But Hagen more recently has turned to religion, with her last two albums both focusing heavily on Jesus Christ.