Tuesday, February 18, 2025

The Scorpions founder and guitarist Rudolf Schenker turns 76 today

Probably the most successful German band ever, Scorpions have built their own foundation in the Heavy Metal and Hard Rock history

The Scorpions founder and guitarist Rudolf Schenker turns 76 today



Probably the most successful German band ever, Scorpions have built their own foundation in Heavy Metal and Hard Rock history, ever since they were founded by guitarist and songwriter Rudolf Schenker in 1965. Schenker was born on August 31, 1948, in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany and when during the mid 1960’s he founded Scorpions he was far from knowing how influential the band would become at a planetary level. He is also the major driving force in the band, that rose to prominence during the 1970’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal rising. With Rudolf Schenker’s brother Michael Schenker, the band released their first album “Lonesome Crow” in 1972 with little visibility, and after Michael’s departure from the band to join UFO, they released “Fly to the Rainbow” in 1974, the album that earned them their first big following. It was in 1976 with “Virgin Killer”, banned due to the controversial original cover that had to force the band to use new artwork so the album could be sold in stores across the world, that Scorpions started to use their definitive signature sound, which defined them for the rest of their career. “Taken By Force” released in 1977 included one of their earliest hits “The Sails of Charon”, and from then, the string of hit singles would begin with songs such as “Always Somewhere”, “Holiday”, “is There Anybody There?”, “Lady Starlight” and “No One Like You”. By 1984 they released what’s considered their finest and most successful albums around the world, “Love at First Sting”, that included the string of hit singles “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, “Big City Nights” and “Still Loving You”. This album was particularly successful in the U.S. During the late 1980’s and 1990’s, the band opted for a milder sound, starting to compose and release often more power ballads than Hard Rock songs as their 1970’s and early 1980’s material. “Wind of Change” and “Send Me an Angel” are two of their most popular songs from that era. With over 50 years of a successful career, Rudolf Schenker is today regarded one of the world’s finest Rock guitarists and all tough most Scorpions songs, guitar solos are performed by lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, there are some notable exceptions, in which Rudolf plays the solos instead of rhythm guitar and Matthias plays rhythm guitar as Schenker usually does. Rudolf Schenker, Scorpions’ most consistent member, that appeared on every album and at every tour, turns 75 today



Look back at the 1984 music video “Still Loving You” by the Scorpions

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