Scorpions

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Scorpions
Scorpions Logo.svg

Meine, Jabs, R. Schenker and Mąciwoda (2014)
Meine, Jabs, R. Schenker and Mąciwoda (2014)
General information
origin Hanover , Germany
Genre (s) Hard rock , heavy metal
founding 1965 as Nameless
Website the-scorpions.com
Founding members
Rudolf Schenker
Karl-Heinz Vollmer
Joachim Kirchhoff
Wolfgang Dziony
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar
Klaus Meine (since 1969)
Guitar, vocals
Rudolf Schenker (since 1965)
guitar
Matthias Jabs (1978, since 1979)
bass
Paweł Mąciwoda (since 2003)
Drums
Mikkey Dee (since 2016)
former members
singing
Bernd Hegner (1968–1969)
guitar
Michael Schenker (1969–1973, 1978–1979)
Guitar, vocals
Uli Jon Roth (1973-1978)
bass
Lothar Heimberg (1968–1973)
bass
Francis Buchholz (1973–1992)
bass
Ralph Rieckermann (1993-2003)
Drums
Wolfgang Dziony (1965–1973)
Drums
Harald Grosskopf (1967)
Drums
Jürgen Rosenthal (1973–1975)
Drums
Rudy Lenners (1975-1976)
Drums
Herman Rarebell (1977-1996)
Drums
James Kottak (1996-2016)

Scorpions is a German hard rock band from Hanover , which was founded as Nameless in 1965 , released their first album in 1972 and is still in existence today. The Scorpions music production and publishing GmbH (previously Scorpions GbR ) is located in the schwarmstedt and in Langenhagen near Hannover.

The most successful songs of the Scorpions include rock hits like Rock You Like a Hurricane , The Zoo , Big City Nights, No One Like You and ballads like Still Loving You, Send me an Angel and Wind of Change , which are still internationally recognized rock classics become. With over 110 million records sold and 50 years on stage, the Scorpions are among the most successful and long-lived bands in music history. In 2009 the band was awarded the Echo Pop for Lifetime Achievement. In 2010, the Scorpions were honored with a star and members handprints on the Rockwalk in Los Angeles and inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History in 2017 .

history

1965 to 1973: Foundation and debut album with Michael Schenker

The band was founded in 1965 in Sarstedt by the guitarist Rudolf Schenker and the drummer Wolfgang Dziony as an amateur band in the course of the beat and rock era, initially under the name Nameless , as they could not agree on a suitable name. The initial line-up included Joachim Kirchhoff (bass), Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Karl-Heinz Vollmer (guitar) and Wolfgang Dziony (drums). Everything that was at the top of the English charts was replayed, mainly the songs of the Beatles .

One year after it was founded, the band finally called itself Scorpions , according to Rudolf Schenker because it is a name that could be understood both nationally and internationally. From 1965 to 1967 they gave concerts in northern Germany and also appeared in the opening act for bands such as the Lords , Searchers and Dave Dee . During this time Rudolf Schenker also took over the singing. In 1967 the singer Werner Hoyer joined and turned the band into a sextet. Only six months later, the band broke up, as the then lead guitarist Karl-Heinz Vollmer was drafted into the German armed forces. Rudolf Schenker and the then drummer Wolfgang Dziony founded a soul band during this time, but it broke up when Rudolf Schenker was called up to join the armed forces. In the autumn of 1968 Schenker revived the Scorpions with the line-up Rudolf Schenker , guitar, Wolfgang Dziony , drums, Lothar Heimberg , bass, Ulrich Worobiec , lead guitar and Bernd Hegner , vocals.

Michael Schenker, 1983

At the end of 1969 singer Hegner and guitarist Worobiec were dismissed and singer Klaus Meine and Rudolf's younger brother Michael Schenker from the band Copernicus joined the Scorpions. In the months to come, the band devoted themselves to composing their own songs. She wrote her lyrics in English from the start , as she wanted to conquer the international hard rock business from the start. In 1971 she recorded three songs for the anti-drug film Das Kalte Paradies . While recording, she met Conny Plank , producer of her first album Lonesome Crow . It was recorded and published in 1972 with the line-up of Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Michael Schenker (guitar), Klaus Meine (vocals), Wolfgang Dziony (drums) and Lothar Heimberg (bass). The album opened the way to an international career for the band, which initially showed success in Japan, America, France and England, then also in the USA and from 1984 also in Germany. She played on a Germany tour as the opening act for Rory Gallagher , Uriah Heep and UFO . Since the UFO guitarist could not travel to Germany, the band asked Michael Schenker for help, who played the entire tour as their substitute guitarist and then left the Scorpions to finally join UFO. Lonesome Crow was also released by a local record company in Chicago , USA , and sold about 25,000 copies there. The Scorpions played over 130 concerts in 1972. After Michael Schenker went to England with UFO, Wolfgang Dziony and Lothar Heimberg got out too, as they saw no future in the band for themselves.

1973 to 1978: The Uli Jon Roth era

Roth not only acted as lead guitarist, but also as the singer of the band on some songs (Photo: 2013)
Rudolf Schenker, 2006
Klaus Meine, 2007

However, new comrades were found: the members of the band Dawn Road , Uli Jon Roth (lead guitar), Francis Buchholz (bass), Jürgen Rosenthal (drums) and Achim Kirschning (keyboards) formed the new one with the remaining Scorpions Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker Tape. Together they signed a record deal with RCA Records and recorded their second album, Fly to the Rainbow , in 1974 . In autumn of that year they went on tour with Casey Jones in Germany.

With the recordings for the next album, In Trance , they began their collaboration with the rock music producer Dieter Dierks , who produced the band's albums for the next fourteen years. Meanwhile Rudy Lenners was on the drums. For the first time, the logo of the Scorpions lettering adorned the record cover. The album rose to be the best-selling RCA album in Japan and popularized the Scorpions there.

In February 1975, she published under the pseudonym The Hunters a single with German cover versions of Sweet hits Fuchs'll go ahead ( Fox on the Run ), and when it really gets going ( Action ). In 1975 the Scorpions completed their first European tour and appeared in the opening act for The Sweet . They made a name for themselves in Great Britain with their appearances in the Liverpool Cavern Club (1975), made famous by the Beatles , and in the London Marquee Club (1975/76) .

The album Virgin Killer was released in 1976. It later brought the Scorpions' first gold record in Japan. In Germany it received the LP of the year award . During the tour for the album, the band toured Great Britain again in 1976 (and played 30 concerts there) and through Germany as the opening act for KISS .

For the 1977 released album Taken By Force , which was also gilded in Japan, Rudy Lenners handed over the drums to Herman Rarebell, as Lenners was temporarily ill. After appearing in Europe, the Scorpions then completed a tour of Japan (the second largest music market in the world). They were already celebrated when they arrived at Tokyo Airport. Around 12,000 spectators came to the five concerts in Tokyo (Nakano Sun Plaza, 2200 seats, 3 concerts), Osaka (Koseinenkinkaikan, 2400 seats) and Nagoya (Kokaido, 2300 seats). Lead guitarist Ulrich Roth left the band after the tour because he no longer felt that he was being challenged artistically by the Scorpions. The climax and conclusion of the Ulrich Roth years of the Scorpions is the double LP Tokyo Tapes (1978), known worldwide as an insider tip , which was released on the Sun on April 24th and 27th during the Taken-By-Force tour Plaza Hall , Tokyo. Meanwhile, Roth founded his own formation with Electric Sun.

1978 to 1992: Commercial high point in the regular cast

Matthias Jabs, 2009

1978 to 1981: Lovedrive and Animal Magnetism

To find a successor for Roth, Francis Buchholz advertised in the English music magazine Melody Maker . The Scorpions tested around 140 guitarists in London, but ultimately decided on Matthias Jabs from Hanover , who had previously been Buchholz's mathematics tutor.

At the end of 1978 the Scorpions played a few more concerts with jabs before they started recording the Lovedrive album. During the recording, Michael Schenker reported back, who had just left UFO. So the just engaged Jabs was dismissed and Michael Schenker took his place. According to "official" information, Schenker played lead guitar on three songs on the Lovedrive album: Lovedrive , Another Piece of Meat and Coast To Coast . As later became known, he also played the lead guitar on Holiday and (at least in part) on Loving You Sunday Morning . Due to alcohol and other problems he collapsed after a few concerts during the Germany tour in the winter of 1979. The Scorpions were then able to persuade Jabs to play as a replacement for Michael Schenker at the remaining concerts in Germany. On the 1979 tour of France, Michael Schenker suffered another breakdown and had to be replaced by jabs again. Since the rest of the band members had to admit to themselves that they could definitely no longer work with Michael Schenker, they offered jabs to stay with the band from now on. He agreed - after three months to think about it - during the Japan tour in June 1979. Jabs' virtuosity and enthusiasm still contribute decisively to the success of the band to this day.

With the album Lovedrive , the Scorpions also became active in the USA. The first US appearance took place in 1979 in front of about 60,000 spectators in Cleveland at the World Series of Rock Festival together with bands such as Thin Lizzy , Aerosmith , Ted Nugent and AC / DC . Then the Scorpions accompanied Ted Nugent, Rainbow and AC / DC as the opening act on their USA tours and also played their own concerts there. In England they played as headliners at the Reading Rock Festival and at the end of the hall tour through Great Britain at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

The Lovedrive record rose to 55th place on the Billboard charts. The music magazine Melody Maker named it one of the best heavy metal albums of the year. The Scorpions members at that time were the “classic” line-up (1978–1992): Klaus Meine (vocals), Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Matthias Jabs (guitar), Francis Buchholz (bass) and Herman Rarebell (drums). Lovedrive eventually achieved gold status in the US, which was the breakthrough for the Scorpions. The next album, Animal Magnetism (1980), expanded the band's status. The songs " The Zoo " and "Make It Real" became hits that are still played by the band today. With Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep) , Jabs' first own composition (the lyrics by Herman Rarebell) is also featured on the album. During the subsequent world tour, the Scorpions also appeared for the first time at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Castle Donington and played in front of the headliners Rainbow and Judas Priest . In the USA they gave u. a. together with Judas Priest and Def Leppard concerts.

1981 to 1983: blackout

During the recording of the album Blackout in 1981 Meine lost his voice and even wanted to leave the band. Over the years he had hardened his vocal cords. But the friendship between Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine and the close solidarity within the band allowed Meine to survive the trauma after a lengthy vocal therapy and two vocal cord operations with a Viennese specialist who also treats opera singers. After that (1982) Meine was even able to increase his vocal range. For him, Blackout is one of the three most important albums of the band. It is considered the best hard rock album of the year and reached the top ten of the American charts. The song No One Like You was number one on the mainstream rock tracks charts in the United States for a week and was the most played song on the radio in 1982. In 1984 Blackout went platinum in the United States . They also shot the song No One Like You on the prison island of Alcatraz, the first music video in the band's history.

In March 1982 the Blackout Tour began in Paris and took the band around the world. In France, where the group was voted the most popular rock band, the album Blackout received double gold. On the US tour, u. a. the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden , who just celebrated great success with their album The Number of the Beast , as opening act. On June 19, 1982 they played for the first time at Madison Square Garden in New York .

On May 29, 1983 the Scorpions played at the US Festival in the San Bernardino Valley together with Mötley Crüe , Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen as the penultimate band in front of over 300,000 spectators. Shortly before the start of the performance at the US Festival, five US Air Force jets chased over the crowd and, together with the pillars of fire that were ignited at the same time, provided a spectacular start to the show. On their farewell tour they took up this intro again. Now the event was alluded to with text and images. On December 17 and 18, 1983, they played at a rock festival in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle with Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Krokus and Iron Maiden, among others . The tour (excluding festivals) had more than a million viewers.

1983 to 1986: Love at First Sting - World Wide Live

For the recording of the next album, Love at First Sting , the Scorpions went with her producer Dieter Dierks 1983 after Stockholm in the local Polar studios of ABBA . Since Dierks had problems with bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell, he hired bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Bobby Rondinelli for the recordings. The recording sessions were canceled when the desired result was not achieved. In the Dierks Studios the album, with Rarebell and Buchholz, was finally completed. After its release in 1984, Love at First Sting climbed to sixth place on the American Billboard charts and went platinum on the day of its release and double-platinum in the US a few months later. In the mid-1990s, the album went triple platinum in the United States. The singles Rock You Like A Hurricane and Still Loving You made a big contribution. The single Still Loving You from the album Love at First Sting brought the Scorpions to the top of the charts in Germany in 1984. Rolling Stone magazine called the band Heavy Metal Latest Heroes and MTV called the Scorpions The Ambassadors of Rock at the time . In France alone, Still Loving You sold 1.1 million singles ( over 2 million according to Rudolf Schenker in his book Rock Your Life ). The album sold over six million times in 1984/85. To date, Love At First Sting is one of the most successful rock albums of all time and has sold more than 10 million times. In 1984 , three of their albums, Love At First Sting , Blackout and Animal Magnetism, were on the American Billboard charts at the same time. The live LP World Wide Live , released in 1985, underscored the band's new superstar status, as it became the second best-selling live album after Frampton Comes Alive and is still the third most successful live album of all time worldwide.

Love-at-First-Sting world tour

The Love at First Sting Tour started in Birmingham on January 23, 1984 . The Scorpions were on a North American tour for around four months in 1984 and gave more than eighty concerts, for example they played twice in a row in the event hall The Forum in Los Angeles in front of more than 16,000 visitors each time, and on May 20, 21 and 23, 1984 three times in a row at the Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena ) in Rosemont near Chicago , after a concert in Kalamazoo , Michigan , they gave the fourth concert in the Rosemont Horizon on May 25, 1984 . The concert tour took the Scorpions back to New York , where they performed three times in a row from June 6th to 8th, 1984 in front of over 60,000 fans in the sold-out Madison Square Garden . It wasn't until December 2010 that a German band, Rammstein , managed to sell out Madison Square Garden again; they played their first concert there in the US since 2001. Bon Jovi played at most of the concerts, a. a. at Madison Square Garden , in North America in the opening act and started her career. Fastway and Jon Butcher were also supporting acts. Under the motto Super Rock 84 in Japan , they played six shows in Japan with Whitesnake , Michael Schenker Group / MSG and Bon Jovi, among others in the Seibu Stadium in Tokyo. The tour was also very successful in Europe, for example they performed on February 29, 1984 in Paris at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in front of 15,500 spectators, which was also the first concert that took place in the Bercy . In 1984 the Scorpions played twelve concerts in Germany, including in the Olympiahalle in Munich . Joan Jett appeared in the opening act at many of the band's European concerts . The Love-at-First-Sting tour counted 2.2 million concert-goers in 1984.

On January 15 and 19, 1985, the band played two concerts as co-headliners in front of over 470,000 fans at the first edition of the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro . In 1985 in Stevenage (England) they played with bands like Deep Purple and UFO at the Knebworth Festival. During the love-at-first-Sting tour came 1985 100.000 viewers in the Nippon Budokan of Tokyo and 60,000 visitors to the Castle Hall of Osaka , Japan. They headlined concerts at the Day-on-the-Green-Festival at the Stadium in Oakland , USA with Victory , Yngwie Malmsteen , Metallica and Ratt and at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas , USA with Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Bon Jovi and others .

In 1986 they co-headlined before Ozzy Osbourne and after bands like Def Leppard or Motörhead at the famous Monster of Rock Festival in Castle Donington (England). The Scorpions had headlining status at the European Monsters of Rock | Monsters of Rock festivals in Budapest , MTK Stadium, in Nuremberg on the Zeppelin Field , and on the Maimarkt site in Mannheim . Ozzy Osbourne, MSG, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Warlock performed in front of the Scorpions, on what was until then the largest open-air stage in Germany. In total, the band played more than 200 shows during the Love at First Sting tour.

1987 to 1992: Wind of Change

In 1987 the Scorpions began to record the album Savage Amusement , which was released in April 1988 and is the last album to be produced by Dieter Dierks at Dierks Studios . It went platinum in the US. The Scorpions started their world tour for the album in April 1988 as the second western hard rock band (the first was Uriah Heep ) in the Soviet Union and played ten concerts in the sports and concert complex in what was then Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg . The band Gorky Park played in the opening act at the concerts. For the production of the show, the band had to pay 500,000 DM in advance . From May 27, 1988 to July 30, 1988, the Scorpions performed together with Kingdom Come, Metallica, Dokken and Van Halen on the '88 Monsters of Rock Tour through the stadiums and open-air arenas of North America, among others they played at Giants Stadium , New Jersey. The bands Kingdom Come (the later Scorpions drummer James Kottak played here), Metallica and Dokken were supporting acts, while the Scorpions co-headlined right before Van Halen. Kingdom Come and Winger were then supporting acts at the other indoor concerts of the Scorpions in the United States and Canada. Overall, the North American tour attracted around 1.5 million visitors at 78 concerts.

They performed three times in a row in February 1989 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London . In Germany, for example, they played in front of 23,500 spectators in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. 22,500 spectators came to the Frankfurt Festhalle, so the Scorpions still hold the house record for the most popular concert. The European tour counted more than 500,000 visitors. At the Moscow Music Peace Festival they played, now separated from Dierks Studios and the previous record company EMI-Electrola, alongside artists such as Ozzy Osbourne , Mötley Crüe , Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Cinderella in front of 260,000 spectators in the Soviet Union.

Meine processed the mood at these concerts in the song Wind of Change , which he wrote in September 1989 and which appeared on the album Crazy World in 1990 and was released as a single in 1991. The band's most successful song to date became the worldwide soundtrack of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War , the anthem of glasnost and perestroika . Even today it is often assumed that the song was written and written because of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but this definitely does not correspond to the facts. The Scorpions later recorded the song in Russian and Spanish versions. In 2005 , Wind of Change was voted the German hit of the century in the ZDF program Our Best .

On July 21, 1990, the Scorpions appeared as guest musicians on the former strip of the Wall on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin . On the occasion of the mammoth concert The Wall - Live in Berlin , staged by ex- Pink Floyd member Roger Waters , they played the Floyd classic In the Flesh? . During the show, numerous other songs from the album were reinterpreted and performed live by artists such as Bryan Adams , Cyndi Lauper , Ute Lemper and Sinéad O'Connor .

In the summer of 1990, the recordings began for their eleventh studio album Crazy World . For the production, the band traveled to Los Angeles to record at the Goodnight LA ​​Studios by Keith Olsen (producer of Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne and many others). Further recordings took place in the Netherlands. It was the band's first production abroad. Until then, the recordings took place in Germany, from 1975 in the Dierks Studios . On Crazy World , the band enlisted the help of an outside composer for the first time. Jim Vallance had written for Bryan Adams and Aerosmith and was named on Crazy World as the co-writer of Tease Me Please Me , Don't Believe Her and Kicks After Six .

In November 1990 the band released the album. In addition to the super hit Wind of Change, there are other songs on Crazy World that have developed into classics, for example the ballad Send me an Angel and the rocker Tease me Please me . In 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev invited the Scorpions to the Kremlin as the first rock band - a few days before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Overall, 1991 can be seen as the most successful year in the band's history: Wind of Change reached first place in the charts in eleven countries and became the most successful single of the year worldwide, the same applies to the album Crazy World , the most successful to date Work of the band. It became the band's first number 1 album in Germany and went double platinum. Crazy World achieved multiplatin in the US . In 1990/1991 the album was sold around 8.5 million times. To date, the album has sold over 16 million times worldwide.

In 1992 the band released their first remix album Still Loving You . It contains nine of the band's most successful ballads, plus the world hit Wind of Change in the original album version and as a bonus track Living for Tomorrow , recorded live in Leningrad. The album made it into the top 20 of the German album charts. In the same year, the bassist and managing director of Scorpions GmbH Francis Buchholz left the band.

During the Expo 92 in Seville they gave an acoustic concert in the German Pavilion.

Crazy World Tour

The Crazy World Tour ran from November 25, 1990 to November 5, 1991 and included more than 150 concerts across Europe, North America and Japan. On the tour they played twice each in the Zurich Hallenstadion, in the Dortmund Westfalenhalle and in the Munich Olympiahalle. The two concerts in Germany hall of Berlin were released on video (1991) and on DVD. They also appeared twice in London's Wembley Arena . They played 92 concerts all over North America, including, as in 1984, twice in the Los Angeles Forum. The band Motörhead was in the opening act at these two concerts. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were special guests when they performed in Miami on May 26, 1991. The other supporting acts on the tour were u. a. Winger , Trixxter and Mr. Big . The tour was the largest and most complex in 1990/91 and the largest since the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels / Urban Jungle Tour in 1989.

1993 to 1999: the difficult years

Paweł Mąciwoda and Matthias Jabs, 2005

The 1993 album Face the Heat , on which Buchholz's successor Ralph Rieckermann plucked the bass, but even the following albums could not build on the commercial success of the albums recorded with Francis Buchholz. The Face the Heat World Tour started on September 14, 1993 with a concert in the Panionios Stadium in Athens and ended on July 20, 1994 in Sunrise , USA. For the first time in their career, the Scorpions struggled to sell enough tickets on their tour in the United States. The tour also took the band to countries such as Mexico , Argentina , Brazil , Chile and Venezuela . Michael Schenker was a guest musician on the face-the-heat tour. The eleven Germany concerts on the tour attracted around 100,000 spectators. Supporting acts were u. a. King's X , Sepultura and Duff McKagan .

In 1994, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley invited the Scorpions to a memorial concert for Elvis Presley . In 1995 they contributed the song White Dove to a benefit concert for Rwanda . It is a reinterpretation of a song by the Hungarian band Omega . After the live album Live Bites , Rarebell left the band in 1996.

For the recordings of the next studio album, Pure Instinct , the drummer Curt Cress, who had already played for Saga and BAP , was hired . The new band manager Stewart Young put the Californian James Kottak (formerly a member of Kingdom Come ) in touch , who joined the band for the upcoming tour. The Pure Instict Tour started on May 1, 1996 at the Hard Rock Café in Kuala Lumpur . In addition to the usual concerts in Europe and America, where Alice Cooper appeared in the opening act at over fifty concerts, the Scorpions also played in Malaysia , Thailand and the Philippines, and as the first international hard rock band in Beirut after the end of the Lebanese civil war . On the world tour they also stopped in Bremerhaven and played there on August 24, 1996 on a floating stage in the mouth of the Weser in front of around 80,000 spectators who watched the concert from the opposite bank. The Leningrad Cowboys and Apocalyptica played in the opening act, Radio Bremen recorded the show for television. The Gotthard band accompanied the Scorpions as the opening act for many European concerts on the 1996/97 tour. In 1997 the Scorpions played in Germany under the title Giants of Rock open air shows together with Meat Loaf and several festivals in South America with Bruce Dickinson , the Jason Bonham Band and others. The last concert of the tour took place on November 22, 1997 in Buenos Aires. In the summer of 1998 three more concerts followed in Bonn, Minsk and Oulu.

On October 3, 1998 they performed on the Day of German Unity in Hanover at the Rock for Germany concert . a. with BAP , Bell, Book & Candle and Die Prinzen as headliners.

James Kottak, 2010

In 1999 the Scorpions came back with the album Eye II Eye and received a lot of criticism from the music press and fans for its modern and electro-heavy orientation. In addition, you are so dirty for the first time, a song written in German on the album. It was the first studio album with James Kottak on drums. On the world tour to the record, the Scorpions played around 50 concerts with Mötley Crüe under the motto Maximum Rock Tour in North America and were invited by Michael Jackson to the Michael Jackson and Friends charity festival in Munich . At the concerts in Europe, the band Cut from ex- Stiltskin and Genesis singer Ray Wilson was on the way as the opening act with the Scorpions. In addition, on November 9, 1999, they played with 166 cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker for the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Wind of Change, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

2000 to 2001: Moment of Glory and Acoustica projects

The Scorpions began the new millennium with new musical developments. The Berliner Philharmoniker had been looking for a suitable band for a crossover project since 1995. In the past few years, the Scorpions' continued global success has not gone unnoticed. The Scorpions started preparing for the joint project in the mid-1990s. Both parties had to take into account the timing of the world exhibition EXPO 2000 in their planning . In January 2000, the recording of the “Klassik Meets Rock” album Moment of Glory with the Berliner Philharmoniker finally began . The album Moment of Glory was released on June 19, 2000. The first performance with the orchestra took place on the occasion of EXPO 2000 on June 22nd under the direction of the Austrian arranger Christian Kolonovits in Hanover, home of the Scorpions. The concert was staggered on ZDF and broadcast worldwide, and was released a little later on DVD. The track selection of the studio CD and the recorded live concert show minimal differences. Both at the concert and during the studio recordings, the Scorpions got powerful support from the Italian Zucchero (on Send Me an Angel ), the American singer Lyn Liechty (on Here in My Heart ) and Ray Wilson (on Big City Nights ). In the same year the Scorpions u. a. a rock show in front of 800,000 spectators at Kraków-Pobiednik Airport near Kraków , Poland , the Bang Your Head Festival in Balingen and some concerts with orchestras in the USA.

In February 2001, three unplugged concerts followed in a Portuguese monastery, which were later released on CD and DVD under the title Acoustica . For the Scorpions this meant a renewed collaboration with Kolonovits. During the tour for the Acoustica album, the band performed a. a. in Paris in front of 80,000 visitors on the Place de la République . In their hometown of Hanover they gave a concert at the Expo Plaza and played concerts in Moscow, the Olympic Stadium in Seoul , South Korea and, for the first time in India , in the city of Bangalore .

2002 to 2009: return to rock music

Scorpions in Finland, August 3, 2003

The year 2002 the band spent on a rock tour through the great halls of the USA and Canada with Deep Purple and Dio and played 41 shows there. Deep Purple and the Scorpions took turns as headliners from city to city. Further appearances followed, including with various symphony orchestras in Germany and with a rock concert in Montego Bay , Jamaica . In October and November the Scorpions played an extensive tour of more than 20 concerts through the states of the former Soviet Union and played as the first western rock band in cities east of the Urals . They played a total of over 70 concerts in 2002.

The Scorpions during the tour through the former Soviet Union (Photo: Lars Wulff )

Another tour with 38 concerts as headliner through the big arenas of North America followed in spring 2003 together with the co-headliner Whitesnake and the band Dokken . At the concert on February 2 in Tampa Bay sang Brian Johnson of AC / DC song Rock You Like a Hurricane with the Scorpions. On August 3rd they performed at the Ankkarock Festival in Helsinki, Finland. On September 6, 2003, Scorpions had the honor, along with the Presidential Orchestra of the Russian Federation on the Red Square in Moscow to play. Around 500,000 spectators saw the concert, the well-known light artist Gert Hof illuminated the large square and Thomas Anders , formerly Modern Talking , formed the preliminary program. The concert was shown on German television. a. at 3sat.

Unbreakable

Paweł Mąciwoda, 2009

In January 2004 the band announced the separation from bassist Ralph Rieckermann. In 2004 their studio album Unbreakable was released , which meant the return to their hard rock roots for the band after many experiments and excursions into other styles. It was completed after three months of studio work in the Peppermint Park Studios by Wolfgang Sick in her hometown of Hanover. The new bassist Paweł Mąciwoda will play for the first time. According to Rudolf Schenker, it is an album that brings together the old and the new generation of Scorpions fans. Before the album was released, the band performed two concerts in Odessa and Kiev , Ukraine . On May 9, 2004, the album was presented to the public with a CD release concert in the Kronebau of the Krone Circus in Munich. During the Unbreakable tour in 2004 they played over 30 concerts in the USA and Canada, for example twice in Los Angeles, with Tesla and Keith Emerson in the opening act. A concert tour through Great Britain with Judas Priest followed. On June 25, 2004 they played on the Danube Island in Vienna . This concert was recorded and released on DVD. The tour also took the band to Asia. In 2005 you had a gig in Dubai , the United Arab Emirates and Doha . In Paris they played in the famous Olympia (Paris) and on September 10, 2005 in Colmar , France . Uli Jon Roth was a guest at the concert and played with the Scorpions for the first time since 1978. The 2005 concert at the sold out Karasaiki Stadium in Athens was broadcast live on Greek television. During the tour in July 2005 the band played in front of 30,000 spectators in Israel in the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv , the Israeli singer Liel Kolet sang the song Send Me an Angel together with Klaus Meine at this concert . In November 2005 they gave a concert in front of the pyramids in Egypt . 19,000 spectators saw the concert.

On June 7, 2006, they played as the last group on the occasion of the upcoming World Cup at the Fan Festival in Hanover. The most famous rock and pop musicians of Hanover performed one after the other in front of 35,000 visitors, including Fury in the Slaughterhouse and Heinz-Rudolf Kunze . On August 3rd, 2006 they played a concert at the Wacken Open Air , in which former members were also involved and of which a DVD was released in 2007 with the title A Night to Remember - A Journey Through Time . In 2006 they also played a concert in front of about 90,000 spectators in Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar , as well as three concerts in the USA and one, in front of over 100,000 spectators, in Québec , Canada. During the Unbreakable World Tour 2004-2006 they played a total of about 140 concerts.

Humanity

In 2007 the Scorpions were in the studio with hit producer Desmond Child in Los Angeles. The album Humanity - Hour I was released on May 25, 2007 and can be described as the band's only concept album to date - an idea that can mainly be attributed to Child. It is based on a novel by Liam Carl and deals with the war between humans and machines. Billy Corgan , singer of the band Smashing Pumpkins , sings along with the song The Cross . The title track Hour I who plays Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 with. He is best known as the guitarist for Marilyn Manson . He wrote the song together with Rudolf Schenker, James Michael and Desmond Child. Even Eric Bazilian , a founding member of the band The Hooters worked on the album. The plate received various gold and platinum awards worldwide.

Humanity World Tour

The subsequent Humanity World Tour 2007–2009 led through 36 countries and included 161 concerts. It began on March 2, 2007 with a concert in the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow and also went back to the USA and Canada, where they gave a dozen concerts in 2007 and six in Canada, for example they played at the Beacon Theater in New York. On June 18, 2007, there was a Scorpions Festival in Athens in the Karaiskakis Stadium, where they had performed the two years before . Uli Jon Roth was a guest, Joe Cocker and Juliette and the Licks were in the opening act. On August 10, 2007, the Scorpions performed in front of 40,000 spectators in Manaus in the Amazon region of Brazil and with this concert supported a Greenpeace campaign to protect the rainforest. The concert was shown live on Brazilian television. In December 2007 they played three concerts in India , a. a. in Bombay , Shillong , where 45,000 spectators saw the concert, and in Bangalore. With Uli Jon Roth they played several concerts in France, for example at Zenith Paris . In 2008 they played in Strasbourg with Uli Jon Roth and Rudy Lenners in front of around 11,500 spectators at Zenith Europa . During the Humanity world tour in 2008, the band performed again in Russia, where they played a twelve-concert tour. In 2008 the Scorpions played a rock-acoustic tour through Brazil , Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. In Mexico City, they performed at the Foro Sol Stadium. Andreas Kisser from Sepultura and other Brazilian musicians took part in the concerts as musicians and supported the Scorpions especially with the acoustic parts of the performances. The concert that the band gave in Recife on September 7th , as well as excerpts from the Manaus Show 2007 and a Greenpeace special, were released on the DVD Amazonia - Live in the Jungle . Part of the sales proceeds from the DVD will go to Greenpeace. Together with Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth they played a few concerts on the tour, including a. once again at the Hammersmith Odeon , London, in Great Britain. The 2008 tour year ended on November 19th with an acoustic concert in Estoril , Portugal . In 2007 alone, a million and in 2008 almost a million viewers saw the band's concerts.

The tour continued from the beginning of April 2009. The Scorpions performed in Montbéliard , France . Uli Jon Roth took part in this performance, and the band Omega was a guest of the Scorpions at two concerts in Hungary and Slovakia. From June 14th to June 28th, they performed in Russia under the motto Monsters of Rock as headliners on an eight-concert tour, which mainly took place in football stadiums. The bands The Rasmus , Kingdom Come and Alice Cooper accompanied the Scorpions on this tour. In Greece the band played a few concerts, including another Scorpions Festival in the Karaiskaki Stadium in Athens, which was sold out with 40,000 visitors . At this concert Michael Schenker, Herman Rarebell, Uli Jon Roth and Athena Kottak (wife of drummer James Kottak and drummer of the common band Kottak ) and the Greek musician Vassilis Papakonstantinou appeared as guest musicians. On October 2nd, the Scorpions performed under the motto A Night to Remember together with Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth in the Grugahalle in Essen . The concert was recorded exclusively by Konzert Online on a USB stick and sold after the concert. On October 23, the Scorpions opened the traditional Avo Session Basel festival . They ended the 2009 tour year with two concerts on December 5th and 6th in the Polish city of Zabrze .

2010 to 2014: The sting-in-the-tail era - the sting still stings

2010 to 2012: Alleged farewell

On January 24, 2010 the band announced on their website that they wanted to split up after the upcoming album release and world tour. Rudolf Schenker said that the band wanted to resign with dignity. On March 19, 2010, the work announced as the last studio album Sting in the Tail was released . This rose to 2nd place in the Media Control Charts and after just one month was awarded gold for 100,000 copies sold in Germany alone. In Greece the album reached the 1st place in the charts and in Europe the 7th place. In the US Billboard charts, the album debuted in 23rd place. Sting in The Tail was # 1 on the classic rock charts. The song Raised on Rock rose to 2nd place on the Classic Rock Mediabase charts and was one of the most played songs on US rock radio stations in 2010. The Finnish soprano and former singer of the symphonic metal band Nightwish , Tarja Turunen , contributes as a guest singer her part to the song The Good Die Young on the album. In November 2011 the album Comeblack was released , which in addition to new recordings of band classics also contains some cover versions.

Get-Your-Sting-and-Blackout- / Final-Sting World Tour
Scorpions live in Bulgaria
Rudolf Schenker live in Madrid 2014

In March 2010 the Scorpions began their farewell tour Get Your Sting and Blackout World Tour with a concert on March 15, 2010 at the O 2  Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, and on March 18 at the Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia. In Germany, the tour started on May 7th, 2010 in the Arena Leipzig . Many of the concerts in 2010 were recorded live and offered for sale on USB sticks. In 2010 they gave a total of thirteen concerts in their home country, with the exception of the one in Recklinghausen, the band Edguy played as a special guest in the opening act of all concerts in Germany. Over 100,000 spectators saw the band's concerts in Germany.

On June 18, 2010, the band started the North American portion of their world tour in Holmdel, New Jersey . During the two-month tour, the Scorpions gave 38 concerts, most of which took place in open-air arenas and were mostly sold out or very well attended. in the opening act u. a. Ratt , Cinderella , MSG and Dokken . The former members Herman Rarebell and Michael Schenker were guest musicians at some concerts, as well as drummer legend Carmine Appice , Jeff Keith from Tesla , Vince Neil and musicians from the band Ratt. In September she went on tour to Latin America. From October they returned to Europe and played there again in Germany and France as well as in other European countries. In total, the Scorpions played more than 90 concerts in 2010. The band reached the 27th place in 2010 among the most successful tours worldwide. (5th place in the rock category) In 2011 the tour continued and also took the band to Asia and Russia. In the summer of 2011 they performed in Germany at some open air concerts, including a. in Bielefeld and at an NDR-2 festival at the Meyer-Werft Papenburg .

Under the motto Final Sting , the band played concerts in Europe, North America, Central and South America and Asia from November 2011. In Germany, the Scorpions gave four indoor concerts (Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Munich and Oberhausen) during the Final Sting Tour 2012 and performed at the Wacken Open Air on August 4, 2012 . The 2012 tour focused on France and Russia, where they played three concerts in Moscow's Crocus City Hall . On May 24th 2012 the band was a guest at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat , Morocco and played for the first time in this country. In addition to the Scorpions, u. a. Evanescence , Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey .

In summer 2012, the band went on tour extensively in North America for the second time and played 21 concerts there, including at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

In 2010, the Scorpions earned $ 35.4 million and landed 37th in the Pollstar ranking of the top-selling tours. In 2011, they took in $ 29.5 million and landed 54th in the Pollstar ranking. The 2012 Final Sting Tour reached 38th place in the Pollstar ranking of the top-selling tours with revenues of $ 32.7 million. Between 2010 and 2012 they gave 217 concerts.

2013 to 2014: MTV Unplugged / Rock "n" Roll Forever Tour

Matthias Jabs MTV Unplugged 2014

On January 18, 2013, the band announced their "resignation from their resignation", so that they want to continue after their world tour but do not plan any further long tours, but still want to give one or the other concert. In July 2013 the Scorpions started their Rock'n'Roll Forever Tour and played as headliners at a festival in Dnepropetrovsk and then performed at the Byblos Festival in Lebanon. In September 2013 the Scorpions gave three acoustic concerts in the amphitheater at Lycabettus in Athens. Two of these concerts were recorded by MTV for MTV Unplugged . Morten Harket was guest vocalist on Wind of Change , CÄTHE on In Trance and Johannes Strate on Rock You Like a Hurricane . In November 2013, the release of their album MTV Unplugged - in Athens . In October and November 2013 the band together with the Sofia Symphony Orchestra gave 7 concerts in Belarus, Russia, etc. a. played in Moscow and Saint Petersburg as well as in Ukraine. In November 2013 they went on a short tour through the Baltic States and Finland.

Scorpions as part of the Festival of Humanity (fête de l'Humanité) 2014

In 2014 the band recorded a cover of the Rainbow song The Temple of the King from Ritchie Blackmore ’s Rainbow . It was released on April 1, 2014 on the memorial album This Is Your Life for Ronnie James Dio , for which Anthrax , Doro , Metallica , Motörhead , Rob Halford and Tenacious D also contributed songs. All proceeds go to the Dios Cancer Foundation.

The Rock'n'Roll Forever Tour continued in 2014. The band was a guest at Madrid's Palacio Vistalegre on March 7th and 8th, 2014, kicking off the 2014 tour year. This was followed by the second part of the orchestral tour through Russia. At the end of April and beginning of May 2014 they gave five concerts in Germany (Kempten, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Cologne) with the MTV Unplugged program. On June 16, 2014, they performed with the Hungarian band Omega in front of 200,000 visitors on Heroes' Square in Budapest. In the course of the year further concerts followed. a. in Sweden, Italy and France. James Kottak drew attention to himself during this time when he was arrested at Dubai International Airport and spent a month in prison in Dubai . Among other things, he had pulled down his pants while drunk and insulted people. He was replaced by Johan Franzon for the 2014 concerts. They gave 50 concerts in 2013 and 2014.

2015 to 2016: 50th anniversary - Return to Forever

On February 20, 2015, the record Return to Forever was released for their 50th anniversary . The album entered the German album charts at 2nd place and reached top positions in other charts, for example it reached 5th place in France. It rose to 33rd place on the US Billboard charts . In their 50-year history, the Scorpions have been in the German album charts for more than 500 weeks and a further 171 weeks in the single charts.

In November 2015, eight classic albums from 1977 to 1988 ( Taken by Force to Savage Amusement ) were released in remixed versions and with unreleased songs and live recordings, for example the band's concert in Madison Square Garden in New York in 1984. Five of the eight albums ( Tokyo Tapes , Lovedrive , Blackout , Love at First Sting and World Wide Live ) as well as the vinyl box with all the albums entered the German album charts at the same time.

50th Anniversary Tour

In August 2014 the band announced their 50th Anniversary Tour for 2015 . The anniversary tour should last until 2016 and include concerts in Europe (including Maidstone , Great Britain, France, Italy), the USA and Asia. The tour started with a performance on May 1, 2015 at the Chang Jiang Music Festival in Zhenjiang , China . In September and October 2015 the Scorpions gave 16 concerts in the USA and Canada, u. a. at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, the Barclays Arena in New York, and the Forum Los Angeles. The concert in New York was streamed live worldwide on the internet and released on DVD in March 2016 with the tour edition of the album Return to Forever . Further concerts in Europe followed in November and December 2015. In February 2016 the tour continued with concerts in Eastern Europe. The indoor tour through Germany in March 2016 with nine dates had to be canceled after a few shows due to an inflammation of the larynx and trachea Klaus Meines and continued in November and December 2016. From May 2016 further concerts followed, including as headliners at the Carolina Rebellion Festival , for the first time at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and under the motto Blacked out in Vegas five shows at The Joint of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in the USA, where a total of a dozen concerts were held. Drummer Mikkey Dee was hired for the shows from May 2016 , as James Kottak was absent due to illness until the end of the year. Further concerts followed in Mexico, Europe and South America. In September 2016, Mikkey Dee became an official member of the band. In October 2016 the Scorpions gave some concerts in Asia (Taiwan, Singapore, Japan) and for the first time in Vietnam . On October 18, 2016, the band gave their first concert in Australia and played at the Palais Theater in Melbourne . The last concert of the tour took place on December 2, 2016 in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin . The Scorpions gave a total of 126 concerts during their anniversary tour in 2015/16.

In the Pollstar ranking of the most successful tours, the band was ranked 79th in 2015 with $ 22.4 million in sales and 68th in 2016 with $ 26.2 million.

Since 2017: Crazy World

On November 24th 2017 the band released their sampler Born to touch your Feelings , which contains a compilation of the most popular rock ballads and two new songs.

After a long break in the first half of 2017, the band went on tour again under the motto Crazy World Tour 2017 ; the first concert took place on June 6th in Axone in France, further performances were, for example, at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 9th 2017, on June 11th 2017 at the Hessentag in Rüsselsheim, on July 17th in the amphitheater of Nîmes , France and on July 23, 2017 at the Schwörfestival on Münsterplatz in Ulm . On June 24th 2017 the band played as headliner at the Life Festival in Auschwitz, Poland. In September 2017 the band began a tour with Megadeth as a special guest through North America; u. a. they gave concerts at the Forum in Los Angeles and at Madison Square Garden in New York City. After the Los Angeles concert on October 7, 2017, the band announced that due to Klaus Meine's larynx, the rest of the tour dates in the USA had to be canceled. In October and November they played a tour through Russia and Scandinavia. Several concerts in Eastern Europe followed in December, and the 2017 tour year ended on December 1st with a concert in Gdansk . In 2017, the Scorpions earned $ 20.1 million with their concerts (30 of 37 were included in the rating) and landed at 97th place in the Pollstar ranking. From March 2018 the tour continued, u. a. with concerts in France and Spain, in Germany the band played gigs in Salem Castle and in Luitpoldspark in Bad Kissingen . On May 4th, 2018, the band headlined the Heaven and Hell Festival in Mexico City. In August and September the band was back in the US. In November they made guest appearances with Def Leppard in Australia and New Zealand and gave concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, China. In 2018, the Scorpions earned $ 28.3 million with their concerts (with 45 rated performances) and landed 62nd in the Pollstar ranking. On January 26, 2019, the tour continued with a concert at the Choktaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma, USA. Further appearances took place from June 2019 u. a. held in Spain, France, Italy and Poland. In Germany they played a concert at the Rosenheim Summer Festival in Rosenheim, on August 18, 2019 in Bonn and in Great Britain at the Bloodstock Open Air . At the Rock in Rio Festival in September and October 2019, the Scorpions were invited as a special guest and played in front of the headliners Iron Maiden on October 4th. Her appearance at Rock in Rio 2019 was voted the best concert of the day and of the entire festival in a poll by the broadcaster Globo , with Bon Jovi coming in second. They played other concerts in South America with Whitesnake and Helloween in the opening act. From the end of October to the middle of November, the band went on tour through Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In the Pollstar ranking 2019, the Scorpions landed in 91st place with 18.5 million euros in revenue from ticket sales. 27 out of 41 concerts were rated. In February and March 2020 they gave concerts with Whitesnake in Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia as well as in Indonesia and Singapore. In July 2020, under the motto Sin City Nights, a one-month engagement with nine appearances in the Zappo Theater of the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, USA, was planned; this was postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic. In July 2020 the band announced that the dates should be rescheduled for May 2021. A new studio album by the band was announced by Matthias Jabs in an interview for autumn 2020. Since spring 2020 they have been producing the album in their home studios and in the Peppermint-Park Studio Hannover. The producer is Greg Fidelman, Los Angeles, with whom the band communicates over the Internet due to corona.

Musical style and influence on music culture

Characteristic of the sound are hard power chord guitar riffs by Rudolf Schenker in combination with the melodic solos by Matthias Jabs as well as the high metallic voice of front man Klaus Meine and simple standard drum rock beats. Often they are counted among the initiators of the so-called power ballad .

At the behest of the manager Doc McGhee, bands like Metallica and Bon Jovi had to watch every Scorpions performance as opening act on their first tour in 1984 in order to learn from their performance and stage presence. Iron Maiden and Def Leppard played as the opening act for the Scorpions when they were young. System of a Down have e.g. B. Coming Home and When the Smoke is Going Down covered and Rob Halford from Judas Priest the song Blackout . Bruce Dickinson covered The Zoo, Helloween covered the song He's a Woman - She's a Man from the album Taken by Force and Children of Bodom covered the song Don't Stop at the Top from the Savage Amusement album. Yngwie Malmsteen , a great admirer of Uli Roth, as well as the band Testament covered the Scorpions classic The Sails of Charon from the Taken by Force record. The song The Sails of Charon is a favorite of Metallica’s Kirk Hammett , and he often plays it as an intro or solo at Metallica concerts. The band Flametal recorded The Sails of Charon for their CD Heavy Mellow ; this record consists of hard rock songs in flamenco instrumental versions. The Swedish death metal band Therion covered the song Fly to the Rainbow from the studio album of the same name and released it on their record A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming in 1997. The band members of Green Day , themselves fans of the Scorpions, also covered a song from them, namely Rock You Like a Hurricane . Vince Neil , Mötley Crüe singer, covered Another Piece of Meat from the Lovedrive album in 2010 for his solo record Tattoos & Tequila . The band Tesla often plays Scorpions songs before their concerts, during sound checks. The band Lagwagon covered the song No One Like You and released it in 2002 on their album Lets Talk About Leftovers . The organist Klaus Wunderlich recorded the song Send me an Angel . The musician Billy Corgan has called the band his greatest musical influence and often plays Scorpions songs in performances with his band Smashing Pumpkins , for example The Zoo . Axl Rose , Kirk Hammett from Metallica, Beth Ditto , musicians from the band Weezer , Anders Fridén , Alex Skolnick , Joe Satriani or Andreas Kisser from Sepultura name the band or individual musicians of the Scorpions as role models. The band's role models are also the singers Shakira , Tarja Turunen and Pink . Van Halen often played songs by the Scorpions early in their career in the mid-1970s. After a concert in London in 1976, Gary Moore stormed onto the stage and said to Rudolf Schenker: “I fucking love your band!” A well-known show element is the now legendary Scorpion pyramid , with Klaus Meine standing on the guitarist's thighs. At the Wacken Open Air 2012, an iron sculpture was on the stage, showing Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs and Klaus Meine as a Scorpion pyramid.

On February 21, 2009, the Scorpions received the Echo for Lifetime Achievement. The jury recognized the successful career of the German rock group, its influence on modern music culture and the Wind of Change "as a global anthem [for] the peaceful end of the Cold War". The band members accepted this award, which was presented to them by boxer Wladimir Klitschko , in person at the O 2  World in Berlin. Singer Klaus Meine emphasized that they did not see this award as the "end", but as a further impetus to "continue living the crazy rock'n'roll dream". They then played a medley consisting of Big City Nights , Rock You Like a Hurricane and Wind of Change as the finale of the event . On April 6, 2010 the Scorpions were honored with a star at the RockWalk in Los Angeles and were allowed to immortalize their handprints there; This puts them in line with music legends like Elvis Presley , Eric Clapton , Carlos Santana , Eddie Van Halen , Ronnie James Dio , BB King and bands like AC / DC , Kiss , Black Sabbath and others. You are the first artists from Germany and Central Europe to receive this award. On May 18, 2010 the Scorpions were honored by Prince Albert II (Monaco) with the Legend World Music Award for their outstanding contribution to the development of rock music and their extraordinary career.

In January 2017, they were inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History in Los Angeles .

In the permanent exhibition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , the Scorpions are represented with some exhibits, including a. with the original of the text from Wind of Change.

Album cover

The Scorpions are known for their often provocative and sexist album covers.

The Virgin Killer - record sleeve made 1976 a scandal, because it shows a naked adolescent pre-girl behind a cracked pane of glass; the center of the leap is in their shame. This was partially understood as child pornography . The British provider temporarily blocked access to the English Wikipedia article on the album, as it shows the original cover. The voluntary self-regulation of the multimedia service provider has suggested indexing the album cover at the federal inspection agency for media harmful to minors.

The cover of the album Lovedrive from 1979 was named the best artwork of the year by Playboy magazine. The covers of the two albums Lovedrive and Animal Magnetism (1980) were designed by the British graphic design agency Hipgnosis , and the cover of the following LP Blackout by the Austrian illustrator Gottfried Helnwein . The cover photo of the successor Love at First Sting comes from the nude and fashion photographer Helmut Newton .

In 2008, Rudolf Schenker said in an interview that the cover design has always been of great importance. In 1988, for the album Savage Amusement, there was almost a collaboration with the pop art artist Andy Warhol ; However, he set his wages so high that the band jumped off, which Schenker described in retrospect as a mistake.

additional

In 1978 Francis Buchholz founded the PA company Rocksound , with whose equipment the Scorpions were able to technically equip their own shows and were one of the most important suppliers of stage technology in Germany in the 1980s and 1990s. The company has existed to this day, without the band's involvement.

Francis Buchholz was managing director of Scorpions GmbH until he left in 1992.

Pawel Maciwoda, Mikkey Dee, Peter Kirkman and Ingo Powitzer, who has been Matthias Jabs' guitar technician since 2000, are, like long-time sound boss Achim Schulze, employees of Scorpions Musikproduktions GmbH, of which Rudolf Schenker is the managing director with sole power of representation. The company is headquartered in Rudolf Schenker's place of residence in Schwarmstedt, where Schenker also maintains his Scorpio Sound Studio, and in Langenhagen near Hanover, where the band has an office and warehouse.

The Scorpions have been working with the guitar maker Boris Dommenget since 2000 . Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs were honored by the guitar brands Gibson , Fender and Dean with several signature models.

On February 29, 1980 , the band had the Scorpions logo entered in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office as a word and image trademark and protected by trademark law.

In 1986 they played a key role in founding the beatbox rehearsal rooms (rehearsal rooms for rent to bands / musicians etc.) in their hometown of Hanover. They gave the founders and operators an interest-free loan and used the premises for rehearsals, etc.

Together with other musicians such as Peter Maffay (with whom they presented an unplugged version of Wind of Change in a late night show by Thomas Gottschalk for a society for music therapy they had initiated ) or Klaus Lage , the Scorpions founded the Gesellschaft Deutsches in 1997 RockRadio .

In 2001, In Leganes , a suburb of Madrid , a street was named after the Scorpions.

From January 25, 2012, the Rock'n Pop Museum in Gronau dedicated a special exhibition to the band; Under the motto Rock you like a Hurricane , the career of the Scorpions was traced until August 2012. The exhibition was the most successful special exhibition since the museum opened.

So far, the Scorpions have played more than 2500 concerts, estimates of the total appearances since their foundation are between 3000 and about 5000 concerts in over 80 countries. According to a Spiegel report from 2008, they receive an average of 250,000 euros per concert.

Filmmaker Katja von Garnier accompanied the band on their Get Your Sting and Blackout Farewell tour from 2010 to 2012 with a film team. This resulted in the film documentary Forever and a Day , which premiered on February 7, 2015 in Berlin. In 2018, Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine and Matthias Jabs were included in the list of the 1001 richest Germans by Manager Magazin with an estimated total assets of 90 million euros.

On May 11, 2020, the eight-part podcast "Wind of Change" by US investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe was released, investigating the question of whether the Scorpions hit " Wind of Change " was written by the CIA .

Trivia

  • The rock group Status Quo originally called themselves "The Scorpions" in 1962 before their successful days.
  • In the first episode of the German comedy show Switch - TV mercilessly parodied , which was broadcast on ProSieben on October 27, 1997 , the Scorpions were parodied by Bernhard Hoëcker , among others . A “music video” was shown under the spelling “Skorpions”, in which a German-language parodistic lyrics with the title “Blasentee” were interpreted on the melody of the Scorpions title Holiday (1979). Other parodies, which mainly focus on the appearance of singer Klaus Meine, also exist, for example, by Oliver Pocher ( Die ultimative Chart Show , 2011) and Stefan Raab ( TV total , 2014).
  • In his song “Was wird aus Hannover” the German-speaking songwriter Thees Uhlmann mentions the rock group from Hanover in the chorus / chorus ( What will happen to Hanover when the Scorpions are no more and we only have a candle in the wind in the Wind of Change, you're over the Scorpions laughed, but they're in Stranger Things, what if we're both like Hanover ). The Scorpions are named u. a. also mentioned at the end of the songs at home (Azzurro) by Die Gerd Show (2003) and Monster by Farin Urlaub (2008).

Cast overview

Discography

Studio albums

Concert albums

Scrapbooks

Compilations (selection)

Music videos

  • 1985: First Sting (VHS)
  • 1985: World Wide Live (VHS)
  • 1988: To Russia with Love and Other Savage Amusements (VHS)
  • 1991: Crazy World Tour Live (VHS)
  • 2000: Moment of Glory - Live (DVD)
  • 2001: Acoustica (DVD)
  • 2002: A Savage Crazy World (DVD)
  • 2005: Unbreakable World Tour 2004 - One Night in Vienna (DVD)
  • 2007: Live at Wacken Open Air 2006: A Night to Remember - A Journey Through Time (DVD)
  • 2009: Amazonia - Live in the Jungle (DVD)
  • 2011: Scorpions Live in 3D (Blu-Ray 3D)
  • 2013: MTV Unplugged - in Athens (DVD)
  • 2015: Forever and a Day (DVD)
  • 2016: Forever and a Day + Live in Munich 2012 (double DVD)

Tours

So far the Scorpions played over 2500 concerts and up to 5000 concerts in over 80 countries.

  • 1965–1971: various concerts as an amateur band
  • 1972–1974: Lonesome Crow Tour (59 concerts, other sources result in over 130 concerts)
  • 1974–1975: Fly to the Rainbow Tour (91 concerts)
  • 1975–1976: In Trance Tour (126 concerts)
  • 1976–1977: Virgin Killer Tour (68 concerts)
  • 1977–1978: Taken by Force Tour (32 concerts)
  • 1978–1979: Lovedrive Tour (97 concerts)
  • 1980: Animal Magnetism Tour (120 concerts)
  • 1982–1983: Blackout Tour (151 concerts)
  • 1984–1986: Love at First Sting Tour (203 concerts)
  • 1988–1989: Savage Amusement Tour (151 concerts)
  • 1990–1991: Crazy World Tour (187 concerts)
  • 1993–1994: Face the Heat Tour (107 concerts)
  • 1996–1997 (1998): Pure Instinct Tour (118 concerts)
  • 1999: Eye to Eye Tour (90 concerts)
  • 2000–2001: Moment of Glory Tour (15 concerts)
  • 2001: Acoustica Tour (38 concerts)
  • 2002–2003: Bad for Good Tour (123 concerts)
  • 2004–2006: Unbreakable World Tour (136 concerts)
  • 2007–2009: Humanity World Tour (161 concerts)
  • 2010-2014: Get Your Sting and Blackout / Final Sting Worldtour / Rock 'n' Roll Forever Tour (267 concerts)
  • 2015–2016: 50th Anniversary Tour (126 concerts)
    • In it: "Blackouted in Vegas" Residency at The Joint Las Vegas (5 concerts)
  • 2017–03 / 2020: Crazy World Tour 2017-2020 (131 concerts)
  • 08.-30. May 2021: Sin City Nights Residency at the Zappo Theater of the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, USA (9 concerts)

Awards and honors (selection)

Group picture after the award of the Lower Saxony State Prize 2014

The Scorpions are honorary members of the German Rock & Pop Musicians Association .

  • 1975: Best German Live Band
  • 1976: Album of the year in Germany Virgin Killer
  • 1979: Playboy magazine : Best artwork of the year for the Lovedrive cover
  • 1985: Entry in the Golden Book of Hanover
  • 1985: Golden Europe
  • 1986: Bravo Otto in silver category Band Hard n Heavy
  • 1991: Bravo Otto in Gold Category Band Hard n Heavy
  • 1991: Invitation to the Kremlin , reception by the then Soviet President Gorbachev
  • 1992: Bravo Otto in bronze category Band Hard n Heavy
  • 1992: World Music Award as the most successful German rock act internationally
  • 1992: Echo as the best national group
  • 1992: Golden Europe
  • 1994: World Music Award
  • 1998: Radio Regenbogen Award Rock International
  • 1999: RSH Gold
  • 2000: City Culture Prize Hannover
  • 2000: City badge of Hanover (to Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs)
  • 2000: Entry in the Golden Book of Hanover
  • 2001: Scorpions Street in Leganes , Spain
  • 2003: Special model Scorpions of the model Speedster of the car brand Opel (limited to 80 copies, Flying V guitar included)
  • 2005: Wind of Change voted the German hit of the century as part of the ZDF series Our Best
  • 2008: Honorary WBC ambassadors for peace for their many years of efforts for cohesion and peace in the world, awarded by the boxing association WBC
  • 2009: Echo for life's work
  • 2009: In a survey by StepStone on the 60th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Scorpions were voted the most popular music group in Germany with 17.5%.
  • 2009: Hungary: Börze Award in the Lifetime Achievement category given by the music magazine Lemezbörze
  • 2009: Goldene Henne : Ehrenpreis Wendesong
  • 2010: Star on the Hollywood Rock Walk in Los Angeles
  • 2010: Rock Legend Award of the World Music Award (special award for their outstanding contribution to the development of rock music)
  • 2010: Rock Group Lifetime Achievement Award from the Vegas ROCKS! Magazine (Honored in Las Vegas at the Vegas ROCKS! Magazine Awards)
  • 2010: Scorpions commemorative stamp for the tour in Brazil, issued by the Brazilian Post
  • 2010: Scorpions beer from a Bolivian brewery for an appearance in Bolivia
  • 2010: GQ Men of the Year Award Category Lifetime Achievement
  • 2010: Lifetime Achievement Award of the Hard Rock Cafe chain
  • 2010: In Schwabach near Nuremberg , guitar maker Herbert Engelhard gives Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs two gold-plated guitars
  • 2011: Radio Regenbogen Award in the Lifetime Rock category
  • 2011: German Music Author Award ( Gema ) Category: Composition Rock (to Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs)
  • 2011: Pioneer of Pop Award of the SWR3 New Pop Festival
  • 2011: Metal Guru Award from Classic-Rock magazine
  • 2012: CGDC Award Category Music for Dialogue, presented by the Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation (CGDC)
  • 2012: German sustainability award in the category of honorary award from cities and municipalities
  • 2013: Steiger Award Music National
  • 2014: Lower Saxony State Prize (to Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, awarded on February 3, 2015)
  • 2016: Classic Rock Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2017: Inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History , Anaheim, California
  • 2017: Wawel Royal Castle (Burg Wawel) Walk of Fame
  • 2017: Poland: Peacemaker Award
  • 2017: October 6th: Scorpions Day in Los Angeles; Awarded by the Los Angeles City Council for 52 years of excellence in rock 'n' roll, including recordings in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world . (October 6th will be the official Scorpions Day of the city of Los Angeles in the future .)

literature

  • Greg Prato: German Metal Machine: Scorpions in the '70s . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016, ISBN 978-1-5194-9167-1 .
  • Martin Popoff : Wind Of Change: The Scorpions Story . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2016, ISBN 978-3-85445-607-0 (Original edition: Wind Of Change, The Scorpions Story Hereinafter )
  • Rainer M. Schröder: Scorpions - Germany's most successful rock group. Series: Heyne Diskothek, Wilhelm Heyne, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-453-80048-6 .
  • Hollow Skai, Erich Pabel: Scorpions. Moewig-Pabel, Rastatt 1992, ISBN 3-8118-3095-3 .
  • Rainer M. Schröder, Edgar Klüsener: Scorpions: Wind Of Change - The long way to rock Olympus. Hannibal Verlagsgruppe, Andrä-Wölker 1993, ISBN 3-85445-079-6 .
  • Rudolf Schenker, Lars Amend: Rock your life. - The founder and guitarist of the Scorpions reveals his secret: having fun to happiness and success . mvg Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-86882-019-5 .
  • Marc Theis: Scorpions - The 1st official Scorpions Photobook. Photo book. Hommage Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86860-074-2 .

Web links

Commons : Scorpions  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. pointoo.de ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pointoo.de
  2. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  3. Silvia Palmigiano and Peter Pippig: Scorpions - in person! radiobremen.de, November 5, 2009, accessed on March 25, 2019 .
  4. ^ Matthias Blazek: The Lower Saxon Band Compendium 1963-2003 . Celle 2006, ISBN 978-3-00-018947-0 , p. 8.
  5. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 57.
  6. Monsters Of Rock. Castle Donington 1980 . Ukrockfestivals.com. August 16, 1980. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  7. Search on the official RIAA website .
  8. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 57.
  9. metal-rules.com
  10. a b Gold & Platinum - May 19, 2010 . RIAA. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  11. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 57.
  12. Les Meilleures Ventes Tout Temps de 45 T. / Singles infodisc.fr .
  13. Teutons in America: Rammstein rocks world-famous arena . news.de
  14. Love at First Sting Tour 1984–1986 . The-scorpions.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  15. Savage Amusement Tour 1988–1989 . The-scorpions.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  16. ^ Federal Association of the Music Industry: Gold / Platinum database . Musikindustrie.de. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  17. youtube.com
  18. Michael Custodis , chapter: Moment of Glory - The Scorpions and the Berliner Philharmoniker . In: Classical Music Today. A search for clues in rock music . transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3 .
  19. ^ Acoustica Tour 2001 . The-scorpions.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  20. Tour 2003 . The-scorpions.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  21. In the interview: Rudolf Schenker, Scorpions . Regional-themenguide.de. November 25, 2005. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  22. ^ Scorpions Humanity Tour 2007–2009 . The-scorpions.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  23. a b Old rock beats young pop . In: Der Spiegel . No. 2 , 2008 ( online ).
  24. The Scorpions split up after their tour. In: Welt Online . January 24, 2010, accessed January 24, 2010 .
  25. a b Scorpion's official website ( memento of the original from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  26. rockbottom-music.de
  27. Scorpions headline Wacken 2012 - early bird ticketing starts tomorrow . Festivalists news magazine
  28. tour dates . Scorpions
  29. pollstarpro.com (PDF)
  30. pollstarpro.com (PDF)
  31. mtv.de
  32. the-scorpions.com
  33. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  34. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  35. metal-hammer.de
  36. forum.metal-hammer.de
  37. metal-hammer.de
  38. the-scorpions.com
  39. ^ Johann Hinrich Claussen
  40. Scorpions singer Klaus Meine talks next album, status of drummer James Kottak (audio), from October 27, 2014 on blabbermouth.net
  41. the-scorpions.com
  42. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  43. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  44. the-scorpions.com
  45. google.de
  46. the-scorpions.com ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  47. Mikkey Dee now firmly in the band! ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  48. youtube.com
  49. pollstarpro.com (PDF)
  50. pollstarpro.com (PDF)
  51. Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.news.de
  52. swp.de
  53. metalsucks.net
  54. rockhard.de
  55. the-scorpions.com
  56. the-scorpions.com
  57. "laut.de" laut.de . Section 7 line 2.
  58. ^ Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions) . Heavymetal.lu. December 17, 1991. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  59. Not compatible browser . Facebook. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  60. wacken.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wacken.com  
  61. Quoted from Scorpions get echo for life's work , Der Tagesspiegel .
  62. ↑ Acceptance speech at the Echo Awards.
  63. dradio.de
  64. Scorpions - Virgin Killer. Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
  65. Roland Seim , Josef Spiegel (ed.): The annotated illustrated book on “From 18” - censored, discussed, suppressed. Censorship in German cultural history . 2nd improved new edition, Telos Verlag 2001, ISBN 3-933060-05-2 , p. 158.
  66. ↑ Unlocked Wikipedia in Great Britain. heise.de, December 9, 2008, accessed December 9, 2008 .
  67. The Scorpions are to blame - Wikipedia paralyzed. (No longer available online.) N-tv.de, December 8, 2008, archived from the original on December 10, 2008 ; Retrieved December 8, 2008 .
  68. Indexing of the Scorpions album cover "Virgin Killer" should be checked. www.heise.de, December 9, 2008, accessed December 9, 2008 .
  69. Tim Eckhorst: Metal makes music. TheNextArt Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-939400-18-9 , p. 40.
  70. Among other things:
    information on the SCORPIONS brand  (bar) in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
    information on the SCORPIONS brand 
    (square) in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
    information on the international SCORPIONS brand 
    (square) in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
    information on the brand  SCORPIONS (word mark) in the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
  71. beatbox-hannover.de (PDF)
  72. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 57 ( Wind of Change ).
  73. Robada la placa de la calle de Scorpions en Leganés a los 10 días de su colocación . The-scorpions.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  74. exhibition. ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. rock'n'pop museum Gronau @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rock-popmuseum.com
  75. schuermann.ws ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schuermann.ws
  76. Only three years left Scorpions - Europe's most successful rock band is retiring - Region - Hamburger Abendblatt . Abendblatt.de. January 24, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  77. Orange but Green support the Scorpions in Essen - Music . Monstersandcritics.de. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.monstersandcritics.de
  78. specials.dw.de
  79. Dirk Peitz: Follow the Moskva, direction Burgwedel. In: The time . May 15, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 .
  80. Alexander Diehl: Investigative Podcast "Wind of Change": Scorpions - or CIA? In: The daily newspaper: taz . May 11, 2020, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).
  81. ^ Wind of Change - Pineapple Street Studios / Crooked Media / Spotify. Retrieved May 22, 2020 .
  82. Scorpions - "Get your sting and blackout live" as a 3D Blu-ray ( Memento from October 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  83. Orange but Green support the Scorpions in Essen . ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. monstersandcritics.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.monstersandcritics.de
  84. delta-news.com
  85. musiker-online.com
  86. Golden Europe . Charts-weltweit.de. August 2, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  87. ^ Scorpions profile . Playce.de. Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.playce.de
  88. RSH Gold Award 1999 .
  89. ^ Bal / Fender: New fame for the ambassadors of Hanover . In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of March 2, 2000.
  90. Page ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on hannover.de. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hannover.de
  91. Echo Winner 2009 ( Memento from February 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  92. Scorpions News: Voted Most Popular Band in the Country! ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-scorpions.com
  93. Golden Hen . Goldene-henne.de. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.goldene-henne.de
  94. Scorpions immortalized on Hollywood's "Rock Walk" . New press
  95. World Music Awards: The Scorpions are the rock legends of the world! . Tikonline.de. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  96. We have our own Scorpions stamp in Brazil now. How crazy is that . Twitpic
  97. Scorpions In Bolivia = Auténtica Cerveza . Twitpic
  98. GQ Men of the Year 2010 - the winners . ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. GQ @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gq-magazin.de
  99. Hooked-on-Music ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hooked-on-music.de
  100. TeNo at the Scorpions VIP Party in the Hard Rock Café Cologne . ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. TeNo blog @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.teno-blog.de
  101. Music: Gold Leaf Guitars for the Scorpions . Focus Online
  102. A golden gift for the Scorpions . nordbayern.de
  103. www.ka-news.de .
  104. SWR3 New Pop Festival 2011 . ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. SWR @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.swr3.de
  105. ^ CR Awards: The Winners . classicrockmagazine.com
  106. cgdc.eu ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cgdc.eu
  107. www.nobilis.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nobilis.de
  108. www.markenartikel-magazin.de .
  109. derwesten.de
  110. haz.de
  111. neuepresse.de
  112. rockhard.de
  113. nbclosangeles.com