LEGENDS
OF ROCK
Scorpions Overview:
Scorpions are a German rock band formed in 1965. Since the band's inception, their musical style has ranged from hard rock to heavy metal.
The band is one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, with claims of sales around 75 million to 100 million records worldwide.
MEMBERS:
Former Members:
Lothar Heimberg — bass, backing vocals
Wolfgang Dziony — drums, percussion
Karl-Heinz Vollmer – lead & rhythm guitars
Michael Schenker — lead & rhythm guitars
Francis Buchholz — bass)
Uli Jon Roth — lead & rhythm guitars
Jürgen Rosenthal — drums, percussion
Achim Kirschning — keyboards
Rudy Lenners — drums, percussion
Joe Wyman - drums, percussion
Herman Rarebell — drums, percussion
Russ Powell - bass
Ralph Rieckermann — bass, backing vocals
Curt Cress — drums, percussion
Ken Taylor — bass, backing vocals
Ingo Powitzer — bass, backing vocals
Current Members:
Rudolf Schenker — rhythm and lead guitars
Klaus Meine — lead vocals, guitars
Matthias Jabs — lead and rhythm guitars
James Kottak — drums, backing vocals
Paweł Mąciwoda — bass, backing vocals
Scorpions Discography:
(Studio albums)
Lonesome Crow (1972)
Fly to the Rainbow (1974)
In Trance (1975)
Virgin Killer (1976)
Taken by Force (1977)
Lovedrive (1979)
Animal Magnetism (1980)
Blackout (1982)
Love at First Sting (1984)
Savage Amusement (1988)
Crazy World (1990)
Face the Heat (1993)
Pure Instinct (1996)
Eye II Eye (1999)
Moment of Glory (2000) (mostly made of re-arranged old songs)
Unbreakable (2004) (mostly made of live acoustic versions of old songs)
Humanity: Hour I (2007)
Sting in the Tail (2010)
Comeblack (2011)
Some interesting facts:
A self-portrait of artist Gottfried Helnwein is featured on the cover of Blackout (1982). Rudolf Schenker portrays this character in the "No One Like You" music video.
Lead vocalist Klaus Meine lost his voice during the recording of Blackout (1982) and he had to undergo surgery on his vocal cords. So, it was uncertain whether he would be able to record the album till the end. Demos of the material were recorded with Don Dokken as vocalist; however none of those recordings are featured on the album.
Unknowing fans often use the article "The" in conjunction with the band's name (e.g. "The Scorpions"). Their name is actually just "Scorpions".
"Still Loving You" from their 1984 album Love at First Sting is considered to be one of the greatest songs of the band which became an international rock anthem (listed #22 on VH1's list of the 25 Greatest Power Ballads).
They made their first step into the limelight in the 1970s supporting Hungarian band Omega on their tours in West-Germany. Later they did a cover of Omega's most famous song "Gyöngyhajú lány" ("The Girl with Pearl in Her Hair") entitled "White Dove".
Throughout their career the Scorpions records went 35 times platinum and 98 times gold, most during their collaboration with producers Dieter Dierks and, later on, Keith Olsen.
Rudolf Schenker is the founding memeber of the band
