1965 to 1972

The humble origins of Germany's biggest grossing Hard Rock act the SCORPIONS date back to its formation in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who initially also handled lead vocals. Former MUSHROOMS vocalist Klaus Meine and guitarist MICHAEL SCHENKER, younger brother of Rudolf, were in a band called COPERNICUS in their native Hannover with bassist Holger Twelve and drummer Mike Grimcke prior to joining SCORPIONS in December 1970. Previous to this, MICHAEL SCHENKER had travelled through his first act THE INNOVATES in 1966 through CRY, later CRY EXPRESS, in 1968 and from COPERNICUS to the SCORPIONS.

In 1972 the SCORPIONS released their debut album 'Lonesome Crow' with a line-up featuring the Schenker brothers, Meine, bassist Lother Heimberg and drummer Wolfgang Dziony. The album was the first of many in succession to be produced by Conny Plank. 'Lonesome Crow' is an adventurous, Jazzy effort markedly different in to later works. It has been re-issued numerous times and under different titles including 'Action', 'I'm Goin' Mad & Others' and 'Gold Rock'.

The band toured Germany heavily to promote the record putting in support gigs to URIAH HEEP, ATOMIC ROOSTER and RORY GALLAGHER. Extra money was earnt by writing the music to an anti drugs film 'Das Kalte Paradies' before hitting the road again guesting for CHICKENSHACK and UFO to round off 1972. HARLIS drummer Werner Löhr also claims early membership of the SCORPIONS. American drummer Joe Wyman was also a member of Scorpions for 1972/73 touring duties.

1973 to 1977

The opportunity to support UFO once more came in the summer of 1973. MICHAEL SCHENKER, however, was to leave the group and was persuaded to join UFO in bizarre circumstances. Arriving in Regensburg in June 1973 to support UFO the SCORPIONS were dumbfounded when the headline act asked to borrow their gear and guitarist. Michael Schenker accepted the offer, appearing with both bands onstage for the gig until UFO's regular guitarist at the time BERNIE MARSDEN arrived to complete the dates. The inevitable happened and following the tour Michael jumped ship to UFO. Shortly thereafter, the SCORPIONS signed to RCA Records in June 1973 and Schenker's replacement was ex-DAWN ROAD guitarist ULI JON ROTH (then known simply as Ulrich Roth).

Initially drafted in to fulfill a gig contract Roth was persuaded to stay the course and further changes followed for 1974's 'Fly To The Rainbow' album, with a new rhythm section of bassist Francis Buchholz and ELOY, DAWN ROAD and MORRISON GULF drummer Jürgen Rosenthal. This line-up produced the 'Fly To The Rainbow' album themselves.

For the ensuing 'In Trance' record, released in 1975, the SCORPIONS secured the services of ex-JANE keyboard player Dieter Dierks as producer. It would be the first of a long succession of records in a lengthy production deal. This pairing also produced a further release that same year, although not credited to the SCORPIONS. Under a pseudonym of THE HUNTERS the group cut German language versions of the SWEET's hits 'Fox On The Run' and 'Action' as 7" 'Fuchs Geh' Voran'/'Wenn Es Richtig Losgeht'.

SCORPIONS journeyed the autobahns once more in 1975 as support to the SWEET, this tour extending into Scandinavia too. The SCORPIONS first toured England in 1975 with their first gig at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Belgian drummer Rudy Lenners joined the band following Rosenthal's enforced army draft and appeared on the aforementioned 1976 album 'In Trance' and 1977's 'Virgin Killer'. The album cover photograph to 'Virgin Killer' created quite a stir, with its depiction of a naked young girl with strategically placed cracked glass. Many countries changed the sleeve artwork. Lenners would not stay with the group for very long and later turned up in the early 80s in both K-WEST and STEELOVER.

1978 to 1981

For the last SCORPIONS RCA studio album, 'Taken By Force', drummer Herman Rarebell came into the fold. Prior to enrolling into the band Rarebell had been assembling a band project with PROCUL HARUM man Bobby Harrison. With Rarebell on board, the band first toured Japan in April 1978 from which the double live album 'Tokyo Tapes' (recorded in Tokyo Sun Plaza Hall April 24th & 27th) was drawn. Shortly after, Ulrich Roth left to form ELECTRIC SUN and the band switched record labels from RCA to Harvest EMI. That year the group inducted Scottish guitarist BILLY RANKIN as replacement, previously a member of PHAZE. The union would be brief though, with language difficulties being cited. Rankin would subsequently join NAZARETH.

The first fruits of the new partnership was the groundbreaking 'Lovedrive' album in 1978, the first to feature new guitarist Matthias Jabs whose past form was as a member of JANE member Walter Nadolny's project LADY, who released one single in Germany titled 'Feel The Fire', and FARGO. 'Lovedrive' also included the briefly returning MICHAEL SCHENKER, having temporarily bailed out of UFO, on three tracks. Michael Schenker featured on 'Another Piece Of Meat' and the instrumental 'Coast To Coast' but would bail out mid-session. Previous to Jabs enrolling former SKID ROW and UFO guitarist PAUL CHAPMAN had been in the frame for the job but after rehearsals with the band in June of 1978 was re-enrolled into UFO.

The band's debut American appearance was in front of 70'000 fans in 1979 at the Cleveland 'World Series of Rock' festival on a bill including THIN LIZZY, AEROSMITH, TED NUGENT and AC/DC. Further touring on a package with AC/DC and TED NUGENT followed.

Once more the band gained notoriety from the album sleeve to 'Lovedrive', a photograph of a backseat bubblegum enhanced breast fondling session. Similar shock tactics were used on the subsequent 'Animal Magnetism' album depicting a dog uncomfortably in heat. Nevertheless the album followed 'Lovedrive' by delivering the grinding future live classic 'The Zoo' and hit single 'Make It Real'.

1982 to 1987

A serious blow to the SCORPIONS' career prospects came when Meine suffered a severe throat problem. At one stage doctors were even advising the vocalist that his singing days were over. Persevering with further treatments the band hung on for over a year awaiting Meine's hoped for recovery. The much delayed new studio album 'Blackout' captured Meine in superb vocal form and gave the fans the heaviest SCORPIONS album to date. Indeed 'Blackout', released in 1982, was the album that truly broke the SCORPIONS in America.

The band supported RAINBOW on an American tour in 1982 and the world tour even included two dates in Bangkok where both 'Holiday' and 'Always Somewhere' had been hit singles. 29th May 1983 was a spectacular milestone for the band, as they performed to their biggest audience to date. Estimated at almost half a million people, the San Bernardino US Festival saw the band sharing a once-in-a-lifetime event with VAN HALEN, JUDAS PRIEST, OZZY OSBOURNE, TRIUMPH, QUIET RIOT and MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Towards the end of 1983 there was heavy media speculation that Rarebell and Buchholz were out and RAINBOW's rhythm section of drummer Bobby Rondinelli and bassist Jimmy Bain were in. Indeed, the band did admit that Bain and Rondinelli had recorded tracks for the new 'Love At First Sting album' in Stockholm, Sweden, prior to switching back to Dierks German studio once more with Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz. Bobby Rondinelli maintains that drum tracks on the album 'Love At First Sting' are his. Jimmy Bain soon after formed part of the highly successful inaugural DIO band. Rondinelli would later join BLUE ÖYSTER CULT and BLACK SABBATH.

'Love At First Sting' proved to be another hugely successful album for the band, breaking into the US Billboard top ten and soon attaining platinum sales status for one million albums sold. The record saw issue in South America under the title 'Amor A Primera Picadura'.

The German's truly stamped their authority on the international Hard Rock scene in 1985 with the release of their second live album, 'Worldwide Live'. Traditionally, in America, live albums had proven lacklustre sellers, but 'Worldwide Live' soon pushed past the million sales mark prompting a festival tour of America and high billing on the 'Monsters Of Rock' shows in Europe. Following their appearance at the Knebworth festival, headlined by DEEP PURPLE, the band undertook a further festival date in Malaysia.

1988 to 1992

In 1988 the SCORPIONS released 'Savage Amusement'. Even though Savage Amusement's riff content was high and the group clocked up yet more radio hits with 'Rhythm Of Love' and 'Passion Rules The Game', many fans voiced concern over the albums slick production values. 1988 would give a historic first not just to the Scorpions but also to Rock n' Roll as the band was invited to perform in Russia. This groundbreaking trip resulted in the band performing no less than ten back to back sell-out performances at Leningrad's Sport And Culture Complex supported by leading Russian band GORKY PARK.

Live work in the USA, given impetus by sustained radio success, saw the group employing a gargantuan Flying V light rig. That summer the Scorpions joined the VAN HALEN topped Monsters of Rock series of festivals, ranked alongside METALLICA, DOKKEN and KINGDOM COME, pitching the band in front of audiences ranging from 50,000 a night to 90,000.

On the 12th and 13th of August, 1989 the German outfit participated in the 'Make A Difference' Peace Festival in Moscow, appearing alongside the likes of OZZY OSBOURNE, MÖTLEY CRÜE, SKID ROW and BON JOVI. The SCORPIONS would also contributed to the album 'Stairway To Heaven - Highway To Hell' with a cover of THE WHO's 'I Can't Explain'.

1990 SCORPIONS switched record companies to align themselves with Phonogram. This move was only one factor in what seemed like a clean break for the band. The 'Crazy World' album was the first in many years to use a producer other than Dieter Dierks and also the first time SCORPIONS had cooperated with outside songwriters. Production was intitially handled by Bruce Fairbairn before the band opted for Keith Olsen the album included songs co-written with BRYAN ADAMS partner Jim Vallance. Also at this juncture the band found themselves in a lengthy legal wrangle with ex-producer Dierks.

The album sold well, hitting no. 1 in the band's homeland, and the SCORPIONS backed it up with the 'Crazy World' tour, starting in Europe with support act WINGER, with seemingly renewed vigour. A success in it's own right the album sales were further boosted when the single 'Winds Of Change' became an enormous international hit, topping the charts in no less than fourteen countries.

The 'Crazy World' album went double platinum in Germany and clocked up combined international sales of over 14 million by the end of the tour. Initially failing to chart in Britain 'Crazy World' was reissued and charted. Bucholz departed in May 1992 in a cloud of rumour as the band also came under fire from the German tax authorities.

1993 to 2007

The SCORPIONS found it hard to follow up the success of 'Crazy World' despite an extremely strong album in 1993's 'Face The Heat', which if anything was a far more accomplished affair than its immediate predecessor. Produced by Bruce Fairbairn, 'Face The Heat' relied more on traditional SCORPIONS rockers than any token chartstabbers and was the first album to feature new bassist Ralph Rieckermann. The band put in a sterling headline performance at the Californian industry 'Foundations Forum' event. However, for the first time SCORPIONS, by now backed with an international reputation boasting over 60 million album sales, 30 platinum albums and 78 gold records, unaccustomedly found difficulties in filling the American arenas. Intriguingly, the ousted HERMAN RAREBELL, having founded Monaco Records with Prince Albert of Monte Carlo, bounced back in 1995 with his version of the GLEN MILLER big band classic 'In The Mood'.

The 1996 album 'Pure Instinct', finding the group on new label East West, saw the departure of Rarebell and in his stead came the SAGA and OCHSENKNECHT credited Curt Cress to record the album and ex-BLACK SHEEP, KINGDOM COME, WILD HORSES and WARRANT man James Kottak being drafted in for live work. The first single from the album, 'You And I', went straight into the German charts.

Unfortunately, 1999's Peter Wolf produced 'Eye To Eye' release proved a major blow to the band's career. Bringing in outside songwriters the band almost dispensed entirely with guitars on some tracks and offered what many Rock fans found as blasphemy as the SCORPIONS went electro Pop! The album did include an acoustic guest session from FOREIGNER's guitarist MICK JONES and even ex-drummer Herman Rarebell got in on the action on backing vocals. Touring in America during August saw the band going out as guests to MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Fortunately the 2000 release 'Moment Of Glory', recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic and seeing Ken Taylor on bass, went a long way to restoring the band's credibility. For this ambitious outing classic Scorpions material had been re-arranged by noted Austrian composer Christian Kolonovits. Klaus Meine would share vocals on this opus with a varied assemblage of singers including the GENESIS credited RAY WILSON on 'Big City Nights', Lyn Liechty on 'Here In My Heart', Zucherro on 'Send Me An Angel' and the title track featuring the Vienna Children's Choir. 'Moment Of Glory' scored considerable success for the SCORPIONS, reaching no. 1 in Portugal.

The same year a collection of Metal acts paid homage on the 'A Tribute To The Scorpions' album. Included were HELLOWEEN, STRATOVARIUS, ROUGH SILK, THERION and METALIUM among many others. American Death Metal band SIX FEET UNDER would also cover 'Blackout' for their 'Graveyard Classics' album.

SCORPIONS geared up to present their orchestrated show in America but announced dates were pulled when Jabs injured his hand. Later shows found the band on the road back in America before shows in Asia. Kottak took time out to work further on his solo venture KRUNK and appear on DOKKEN bassist JEFF PILSON's solo album. The SCORPIONS bounced back in 2001 with the unplugged 'Acoustica' album, which scored well across European charts. In Portugal 'Acoustica' rapidly went double platinum by selling over 80,000 copies and staying at the no. 1 position for over 12 weeks.

2002 would present the SCORPIONS with a hectic live schedule undertaking a tour of North America in alliance with DEEP PURPLE and DIO before orchestral shows in Europe during July. These latter gigs would be performed with the Stuttgart Mercedes Benz Orchestra, the Luxembourg Sinfonieorchester and the Berlin Symphoniker. The group's activities outside of the Rock sphere would also expand into a full blown stage musical 'Winds Of Change' performed at the Berlin Metropolis Theatre.

During May yet another in the seemingly endless stream of SCORPIONS compilation albums would be announced in 'Bad For Good - The Very Best Of The Scorpions'. Thankfully for fans this collection did present something special in the inclusion of two brand new tracks- albeit of old previously unrecorded songs, 'Bad For Good' and 'Cause I Love You', both produced by Dieter Dierks- the group's first reunion with the famed producer in over 15 years. Tour plans included a mammoth two month run of dates in Russia during October and November. Although no strangers to Russia the 21 show trek took the band further afield than ever before taking in shows in the Ukraine, Belarus, Siberia and the Baltic states. Also revealed would be North American tour plans set for January through March of 2003 in alliance with the heavyweight combination of DOKKEN and the reformed WHITESNAKE. The band also put in some unique performances that August in the Opel Car works in Rüsselsheim and on Terceira Island and St. Miguel Island in the Azores.

The SCORPIONS, vowing a return to their Hard Rock roots, set to work on a new studio album in December at Peppermint Park Studio in Hannover. It would be revealed that BARRY SPARKS, noted for his work with COSMOSQUAD, TED NUGENT, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, DOKKEN, ULI JON ROTH and the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, had laid down bass guitar during these sessions on the tracks 'Borderline' and 'Love 'Em And Leave 'Em'. In January the band revealed that Polish bassist Paweł Mąciwoda, citing credits with SECTION 31 and URBANATOR, had joined the ranks. The new man made his debut on the 12th of January appearing with the band on the German TV show '20 years of RTL'. Summer festival dates for the SCORPIONS included appearances at the Sölvesborg 'Sweden Rock' event and the Dutch 'Arrow Rock' show in Lichtenvoorde.

Meantime, former SCORPIONS drummer HERMAN RAREBELL launched a German tour with his new band R&R in late April. The group, which included former 7 SINS saxophonist and well known actress Claudia Raab, released a debut album 'The Rhythm of Art'. The shows would be far removed from a regular Rock n' Roll event, also featuring a truope of dancers as well as featuring original paintings by ROLLING STONES guitarist Ronnie Wood and and Ronald Muri, founder of the "Pop-Expressionist Movement".

The release of 'Unbreakable' placed the band high in the album charts across Europe but would struggle in North America. In Greece the album hit the no. 1 position, pulling a 'Best Of' compilation and the 'Acoustica' set back into the charts too. The world tour found the band hitting such far reaching venues as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and even Sinai in Egypt during October. Later that same month an extensive US headline tour was announced, support coming from TESLA and KEITH EMERSON. Strangely, France, one of the band's most loyal territories was neglected, prompting French fans to launch a petition to get the band to play.

In welcome news for fans of vintage SCORPIONS, former guitarist ULI JON ROTH revealed he had written a full, extended symphony orchestra score for the classic track 'Sails Of Charon' and featuring Liz Vandell of SAHARA on vocals. A video with Vandell's performance would be projected onto a screen as part of Roth's concerts in August, a US trek allied with another ex-SCORPIONS act, the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP.

A European and UK tour throughout February and April, seeing SCORPIONS performing in many major venues, witnessed a strong union with the JUDAS PRIEST. A notable event for longstanding fans came with the band's appearance at a September 10th concert in Colmar, France where ULI JON ROTH and former drummer Rudy Lenners joined the band onstage, making this the first official reunion since the recording of the 1978 'Tokyo Tapes' concerts. Roth joined the SCORPIONS for live renditions of 'In Trance', 'Pictured Life', 'Kojo No Tsuki', 'We'll Burn The Sky', dedicated to the song's lyric writer, Roth's late girlfriend Monika Danneman, and 'He's A Woman, She's A Man'. In keeping with a prior tradition of reaching into unfamiliar territories the band hit Mexico and Brazil during October prior to a "Peace for all" acoustic tour of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. In the latter destination the band performed a concert at the ancient Giza pyramids.

Greek gigs in December for ULI JON ROTH saw the guitarist re-united with ex-SCORPIONS drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, the first time the pair had performed together since 1974. The band appeared at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall on 31st March 2006. The show, backed by the IAN GILLAN, JUDAS PRIEST and BONED, was held in tribute to the late Radio One DJ Tommy Vance, host of 'The Friday Rock Show' and to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.

SCORPIONS again put on a celebratory event including former members for their headline show at the 'Wacken Open Air' festival on August 3rd billed 'A Night to Remember - A Journey in Time'. Not only did the band perform many archive songs featuring ULI JON ROTH, HERMAN RAREBELL and MICHAEL SCHENKER but they encored with 'In Search Of The Peace Of Mind' including all three players plus Michael's son Tyson Schenker on guitar.

SCORPIONS commenced new album recordings in Los Angeles with producer Desmond Child in October. During these sessions the group collaborated on songwriting with JOHN 5 (a.k.a. John Lowery), guitarist for DAVID LEE ROTH, TWO and MARILYN MANSON.

Tour activity scheduled for 2007 included Russian, Ukrainian and Baltic Countries shows on March and April plus a full tour of France in May. The first taste of new album 'Humanity Hour 1' came on March 24th when the SCORPIONS debuted the track 'Humanity' at a special concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of signing of the Treaty of Rome.

Festival appearances included 'Gods Of Metal' in Milan, Italy and the Biddinghuizen 'Arrow Rock' event in Holland during June. The band maintained a tradition of reaching far flung places as, besides regular Rock n' Roll destinations, SCORPIONS included Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands in their itinerary for August 3rd.

For the band's September 2008 South American dates the SCORPIONS added another guitarist in the form of SEPULTURA's Andreas Kisser. The Brazilian performed electric guitar on 'Coast to Coast' and 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' and acoustic parts on 'Always Somewhere', 'Wind of Change', 'Loving You Sunday Morning'.

In December 2008 the controversial photographic cover of 1978's 'Virgin Killer' album was under scrutiny once again when the Internet Watch Foundation objected to the image's use on the Wikipedia website, declaring the photograph to be "potentially illegal".

The SCORPIONS kicked off their 2009 tour on Friday, 3rd April at L'axone in Montbéliard, France. ULI JON ROTH once again joined the band for 'Pictured Life', 'Backstage Queen', 'Life's Like A River', 'Polar Nights', 'Robot Man', 'In Trance' and 'When The Smoke Is Going Down'. In May it was announced that James Kottak had joined ex-WARRANT singer JANI LANE's live band.

2009 Russian 'Monsters Of Rock' shows, alongside KINGDOM COME and THE RASMUS, were highlighted by the international media when a 20th June concert in Novosibirsk was cancelled as the stage collapsed under the weight of lighting and PA rigs. On a more positive note, the group extended its recording contract with Ariola Records.

Rudolf Schenker published his official German language autobiography, 'Rock Your Life', in Germany on 14th October. In a rare guest appearance, SCORPIONS vocalist Klaus Meine recorded a duet with EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet for an album from  the AVANTASIA project.

On January 24th 2010 SCORPIONS signalled the end of their career with the following statement: "It was always our pleasure, our purpose in life, our passion and we were fortunate enough to make music for you - whether it was live on stage or in the studio, creating new songs.

While we were working on our album these past few months, we could literally feel how powerful and creative our work was — and how much fun we were still having in the process. But there was also something else: we want to end the SCORPIONS' extraordinary career on a high note.

We are extremely grateful for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we've always had since the beginning. This is why, especially now, we agree we have reached the end of the road. We finish our career with an album we consider to be one of the best we have ever recorded and with a tour that will start in our home country Germany and take us to five different continents over the next few years.

We want you, our fans, to be the first to know about this. Thank you for your never-ending support throughout the years!"

The final album, entitled 'Sting In The Tail', Swedish producers Mikael "Nord" Andersson and Martin Hansen, was issued in Europe on 19th March.

Garry Sharpe-Young