It has been 50 years since young Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs roamed the streets of Hannover, which had just awakened from post-war paralysis, with a wheelbarrow carrying their instruments and amplifiers. In these 50 years, they have become in Germany, or rather the most successful rock band in continental Europe, living proof that it is not just VW, Mercedes or BMW that are capable of competing internationally, but also classic rock music made in Germany. Elusive bands including Smashing Pumpkins, as well as Green Day, Korn, System Of A Down or Queensryche, have had songs covered by the SCORPIONS over the years. “Rock You Like A Hurricane” alone has been recorded 150 times by different musicians.
Expressing a career like SCORPIONS‘ in mere numbers is almost impossible. However, one number that should still be mentioned is the more than 100 million records sold to date. This makes SCORPIONS the most successful rock band in Continental Europe by far.
In Germany, SCORPIONS sold more than a million copies of “Crazy World” alone – and with that, in the rock genre they easily tied even with Nirvana (Nevermind), AC/DC (Back In Black) or Guns’N Roses (Use your illusion I). They accidentally went double platinum for it in 1991. Like in Switzerland and Canada, by the way. Furthermore, “Sting In The Tail” (1991) and the single “Wind Of Change” (1991) went platinum in Germany. In fact, the latter was number 1 in seven countries!
However, countless silver, gold and platinum awards are just one side of the SCORPIONS’ story. Another is the unwavering desire to travel. No other rock band of their caliber, after so many years, takes the stage as often as the Hannover natives. They have performed thousands of shows in all corners of the planet: in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Moscow, Washington, Dubai, Paris or Berlin. In 1988, they were the first Western rock band to play sold-out shows for five consecutive days in then-Soviet Leningrad. Pioneering achievements elsewhere too: through early shows in China and Southeast Asia, they opened doors for many other Western bands.
They achieved great success in Brazil in 1985, at the legendary “Rock in Rio” festival, when other German bands were able to fulfill the best dreams of foreign countries. The performance is documented on the memorable live album “World Wide Live”, which was the band’s final breakthrough in the US, forever cementing their reputation as one of the hottest live bands on the planet.
And then there was the 1989 “Moscow Music Peace” festival, where the SCORPIONS finally conquered Russia, inspiring Klaus Meine to write the track right after the Iron Curtain’s latest autumn theme: “Wind of Change”.
There were many magical moments live; some of them are captured in live albums, others in film and video recordings. These are the moments that forged SCORPIONS‘ reputation as one of the rare bands that stands head and shoulders above the crowd.
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