Scorpions are a German rock band from Hanover, formed in 1965. The band went through numerous changes in personnel in its early years. Founding by rhythm/lead guitarist Rudolf Schenker and drummer Wolfgang Dziony; both at that point shared lead vocals. In addition to them, the band also included lead/rhythm guitarist Karl-Heinz Vollmer and bassist Achim Kirchhoff.
By 1967, Schenker, realizing that he could not sing and play the guitar at the same time, invited the 15-year-old Werner Hoyer to take the place of the vocalist.[1]
At the end of that year, Hoyer and Vollmer left, and their places were soon taken by Bernd Hegner and Ulrich Worobiec.
In the spring of 1968, bass guitarist Achim Kirchhoff was replaced by Lothar Heimberg.
In late, 1969 Hegner and Worobiec also left. After that, the group settled on a lineup which included lead vocalist Klaus Meine, lead guitarist Michael Schenker (Rudolf's younger brother), bass-guitarist Lothar Heimberg and drummer Wolfgang Dziony. It is in this composition that they recorded their debut album Lonesome Crow, released in 1972.[2] [3]
Michael Schenker, Heimberg and Dziony all left after the album's release, with Rudolf Schenker and Meine briefly disbanding the group and joining Dawn Road, featuring guitarist Uli Jon Roth, bass-guitarist Francis Buchholz, drummer Jürgen Rosenthal and keyboardist Achim Kirschning; the six-piece later opted to adopt the Scorpions moniker, and in 1974 released Fly to the Rainbow.[4]
Rosenthal left after the recording of Fly to the Rainbow, being replaced first by Jürgen Fechter and later by Rudy Lenners, who performed on In Trance and Virgin Killer.[5] [6] In 1977, Lenners was replaced by Herman Rarebell, whose first recording with the band was Taken by Force.[7] Roth left Scorpions the following year,[8] which he has since explained was because he "began getting dissatisfied with the direction of the music" the band were making.[9] Michael Schenker briefly returned to the band after being fired from UFO in late 1978, performing on four tracks for the album Lovedrive, although he was replaced the following year by Matthias Jabs who had joined around the same time.[10] The Scorpions lineup of Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Jabs, Buchholz and Rarebell remained constant from 1978 and through the 1980s.[2]
After 19 years with the band, bassist Francis Buchholz left Scorpions in 1992. He was replaced by Ralph Rieckermann later in the year.[11] Drummer Rarebell also left four years later, claiming that he was unsatisfied with the band's changing musical direction, and the lack of songwriting input he was able to have in the band.[12] He was replaced in 1996 by James Kottak,[13] after Curt Cress performed on Pure Instinct.[14] Rieckermann left Scorpions in 2003, with Paweł Mąciwoda taking his place early the following year.[15] Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee replaced Kottak in the band in September 2016.[16]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolf Schenker | 1965–present | all Scorpions releases | |||
| Klaus Meine | 1969–present | ||||
| Matthias Jabs | 1978–present | all Scorpions releases from Lovedrive (1979) onwards | |||
| Paweł Mąciwoda | 2004–present | all Scorpions releases from Unbreakable (2004) onwards | |||
| Mikkey Dee | 2016–present | drums |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfgang Dziony | Lonesome Crow (1972) | ||||
| Achim Kirchhoff | 1965–1968 | bass | rowspan="5" | ||
| Karl-Heinz Vollmer | 1965–1967 | lead and rhythm guitar | |||
| Werner Hoyer | 1967 | lead vocals | |||
| Bernd Hegner | 1967–1969 | ||||
| Ulrich Worobiec | lead and slide guitar | ||||
| Lothar Heimberg | 1968–1973 | Lonesome Crow (1972) | |||
| Michael Schenker | |||||
| Werner Löhr | 1972 | drums | rowspan="3" | ||
| Joe Wyman | |||||
| Helmut Eisenhut | 1973 | ||||
| Hal Fingerhood | 1973 Fill in drummer | Drums | |||
| Francis Buchholz | 1973–1992 | ||||
| Uli Jon Roth | |||||
| Achim Kirschning | |||||
| Jürgen Rosenthal | 1973–1974 | drums | Fly to the Rainbow (1974) | ||
| Jürgen Fechter | 1974–1975 | ||||
| Rudy Lenners | 1975–1977 | ||||
| Herman Rarebell | |||||
| Ralph Rieckermann | 1993–2003 | all Scorpions releases from Face the Heat (1993) to Bad for Good (2002) | |||
| James Kottak | 1996–2016 | all Scorpions releases from Eye II Eye (1999) to Forever and a Day (2016) |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Macmillan | 1979–1980 | Animal Magnetism (1980) | ||
| Adele Arman | violins | |||
| Victoria Richard | ||||
| Paul Arman | viola | |||
| Richard Arman | cello | |||
| Charles Elliot | double bass | |||
| 1979–1980 | oboe | |||
| George Stimpson | 1979–1980 | French horns | ||
| Brad Wamaar | ||||
| Don Dokken | 1981–1982 | backing vocals | Blackout (1982) | |
| Lee Aaron | 1987–1988 | Savage Amusement (1988) | ||
| vocals | ||||
| Koen van Baal | ||||
| Jim Vallance | 1990 | keyboards | Crazy World (1990) | |
| Roy Tesse | "gang" vocals | |||
| Dries van der Schuyt | ||||
| Ria Makker | ||||
| Gerard v.d. Pot | ||||
| Louis Spillman | ||||
| Wolfgang Praetz | ||||
| Inka Esser | ||||
| Claudia Frohling | ||||
| Cliff Roles | ||||
| Peter Angmeer | ||||
| Tony Ioannoua | ||||
| Jim Lewis | ||||
| Erwin Musper | ||||
| Keith Olsen | ||||
| Marcel Gelderblom | "bang" vocals | |||
| Mirjam Erftemeijer | ||||
| Henk Horden | ||||
| Patrick Ulenberg | ||||
| 1993 | keyboards | Face the Heat (1993) | ||
| Luke Herzog | ||||
| Helen Donath | opera voice | |||
| Rhian Gittins | girl's voice | |||
| Paul Laine | backing vocals | |||
| Mark LaFrance | ||||
| Bruce Fairbairn | 1993 | |||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1996 | Pure Instinct (1996) | |||
| Pitti Hecht | percussion | |||
| Luke Herzog | keyboards | |||
| Claude Gaudette | ||||
| 1998–1999 | keyboards and piano | Eye II Eye (1999) | ||
| Mick Jones | acoustic guitar | |||
| Michelle Wolf | backing vocals | |||
| Siedah Garrett | ||||
| Lynn Davis | ||||
| James Ingram | 1998–1999 | |||
| 1998–1999 | ||||
| Kevin Dorsey | ||||
| Lyn Liechty | 2000 | vocals | Moment of Glory (2000) | |
| Ray Wilson | ||||
| Zucchero | ||||
| Guenther Becker | sitar | |||
| Stefan Schrupp | drum and computer programming | |||
| Gumpoldtskirchener Spatzen, Vienna | children's choir | |||
| Vince Pirillo | choir | |||
| Kai Petersen | ||||
| Michael Perfler | ||||
| Susie Webb | backing vocals | |||
| Zoë Nicholas | ||||
| Rita Campbell | ||||
| Melanie Marshall | ||||
| Ken Taylor | bass | |||
| Barry Sparks | 2003–2004 | Unbreakable (2004) | ||
| Ingo Powitzer | ||||
| Ralph de Jongh | backing vocals | |||
| Joss Mennen | ||||
| Alex Jansen | ||||
| Jody's Kids Choir | additional vocals | |||
| 2006–2017 | vocals | (2007) | ||
| Eric Bazilian | guitar | |||
| piano | ||||
| Harry Sommerdahl | programming | |||
| Jason Paige | backing vocals | |||
| Desmond Child | ||||
| Angela Whittaker | voice-overs | |||
| Roman Shaw Child | ||||
| orchestra conductor | ||||
| Tarja Turunen | 2009 | vocals | Sting in the Tail (2010) | |
| Mikael Nord Andersson | gang vocals | |||
| Ingo Powitzer | 2020–2021 | Rock Believer (2022) | ||
| Jakob Himmelein | ||||
| Alex Malek | ||||
| Hans-Martin Buff | ||||
| Pitti Hecht | percussion |
| Period | Members | Releases | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 – 1967 |
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| 1967 |
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| 1967 – March 1968 |
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| April 1968 – November 1969 |
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| December 1969 – May 1972 |
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| May – July 1972 |
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| July – October 1972 |
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| November – December 1972 |
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| January – June 1973 |
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| June – December 1973 |
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| January – June 1974 |
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| July 1974 – January 1975 |
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| February 1975 – May 1977 |
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| May 1977 – April 1978 |
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| August 1978 – December 1978 |
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| February 1979 – April 1979 |
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| April 1979 – October 1992 |
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| November 1992 – January 1996 |
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| January 1996 – August 1996 |
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| August 1996 – late 2003 |
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| January 2004 – September 2016 |
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| September 2016 – present |
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