90 Year Old DJ Shines With Female Collective in Germany

Miss Crazy Irma and Forever Fresh prove that it is never too late to learn, take over the booth and move a crowd

A 90 year old DJ takes the stage in Cologne

A 90 year old DJ is reminding the electronic music world that the booth does not belong to one generation only. DJ Miss Crazy Irma, the oldest member of Forever Fresh, recently became one of the most talked about names from c/o pop Festival in Cologne, Germany, after performing alongside a collective of mature women who learned how to DJ from scratch.

The story is bigger than a viral moment. Forever Fresh was created after the festival team noticed a clear gap in its programming: there was almost no representation for older women. From that realization came a simple question with a powerful answer. Would mature women want to learn how to DJ?

They did. And they did not just show up for a symbolic appearance. They learned the technical language of DJing, practiced transitions, worked with volume, fades, buttons, sliders and the logic of playing live in front of a crowd.

How Forever Fresh was born

According to c/o pop Festival, Forever Fresh began as a project that brought 10 women aged 70 and older to the festival’s DJ stages. The idea was clear: pop culture has no expiration date, and age should not be treated as a limit to participation, visibility or creativity.

In 2026, the project entered a new phase with the same message. Senior women were not placed behind the decks as a gimmick. They were presented as artists in formation, learning a new language and challenging the narrow image of who is expected to perform at a music festival.

That detail matters. In a scene that often celebrates innovation, technology and diversity, older women are still rarely seen as protagonists in the booth. Forever Fresh turns that absence into a statement.

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Learning the booth from zero

The preparation behind the project makes the story even stronger. Some of the women who joined had never owned a computer before. Still, they faced the challenge of learning how to use DJ equipment and build a performance.

One of the instructors, DJ Sedaction, described that challenge as part of the appeal. Several women told her they had not faced anything so demanding in years, and that was exactly what made the experience exciting.

This is what separates Forever Fresh from a simple feel good story. The collective is not just about placing older women onstage. It is about giving them access, training, confidence and a real place inside DJ culture.

Miss Crazy Irma becomes the standout name

Among the members, DJ Miss Crazy Irma became the standout figure. Her real name is Irmgard Schloesser, and she is the oldest member of the group.

In daily life, she uses a walker. Onstage, however, she stands behind the decks, dances, raises her hands and connects with the crowd. The image is powerful because it shows a 90 year old woman not as a spectator, but as a protagonist of the dancefloor.

Irma said she first thought the project would be something she could do while sitting down. Then she discovered that performing would require her to stand. She continued anyway.

“I do not do things halfway,” she said.

That sentence captures the spirit of the collective. This is not only about age. It is about presence, courage and the decision to occupy a space that many people still associate almost exclusively with youth.

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Mature women creating a new relationship with music

The collective also includes women whose stories show how deeply music can change meaning over time. Ingrid Jatho, 73, a former schoolteacher, entered the project after a life connected to music through dancing. Now, she is experiencing the dancefloor from another position.

“I have always danced to music. But now I am creating it,” she said.

That line is one of the strongest messages behind Forever Fresh. These women are not only responding to music anymore. They are shaping the room, selecting the energy and guiding the crowd.

Another participant, Inge Dobrinski, 79, remembered that when she was younger, nights out looked very different. There were no DJs in the way people know them today, only dance evenings. Now, she is learning the modern language of the booth and bringing her own history into it.

A crowd with no age limit

The response from the audience surprised the group. Uschi Opher, also known as DJ Timeless, said they first expected only friends and family to attend. Instead, younger people showed up and responded with real enthusiasm.

“The young people were amazing. Really, really great,” she said.

Edeltraut Stecher-Breckner, who performs as DJ Edition, described the feeling as something she had been waiting for without knowing it. She said she realized this was exactly what she wanted to do now.

Those reactions give the story its emotional force. Forever Fresh is not only about music. It is about desire, belonging and the possibility of discovering a new creative identity at a time in life when society often expects people to slow down.

A setlist that breaks expectations

The music also helped break stereotypes. The collective did not rely only on nostalgic selections. Reports mention tracks connected to David Guetta, P!nk, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Shirin David and ABBA.

That mix matters. It shows women from older generations working with pop, electronic music, classics and contemporary hits to connect with different audiences. Instead of being framed by expectation, they used music as a bridge between generations.

One audience member described the performance as fantastic and said they did not expect it to be so captivating. Another spectator said the women onstage had such strong energy that it swept the room away.

Why this story matters for DJ culture

For DJane Mag, the story of Miss Crazy Irma and Forever Fresh matters because it expands the idea of who can stand behind the decks. The electronic music scene often talks about the future, technology and inclusion. However, real inclusion also means opening the booth to people who are usually left out of the image.

Forever Fresh shows that diversity is not only about gender, genre or background. It is also about age.

The booth is a place of control, emotion and connection. Whoever plays shapes the room. When women over 60 and 70 take that space, they also change the way a festival can look, feel and speak to its audience.

More than a viral story, Miss Crazy Irma and Forever Fresh deliver a message the whole scene should hear: it is never too late to learn, to perform, to be seen and to move the dancefloor.