Klaus Meine

“The philosophy of friendship has definitely paid off, because after all the highs and lows we’re still sticking together and we haven’t lost the passion for what we’re doing. In the Seventies, there were few changes, then we had this line-up with Herman [Rarebell] and Francis [Buchholz] for almost twenty years.”

“When we started, there were KRAFTWERK and TANGERINE DREAM, and both bands also became very very strong internationally but in a different area, in a different field. They were doing, like, experimental kind of music, and KRAFTWERK were amazing, while we played just traditional rock.”

“We’re from Germany but we grew up with English and American music which was such a strong inspiration for the young band. Very early on, in the Seventies, we went to England and France, to Japan and America, we toured and then became an international band. I think our music was never German, it’s always had this Anglo-American influence – we never tried to be a German band! We are Germans, yes, but not in our music. When we grew up, there was schlager music, this pop music kind of thing.”