Klaus Meine

Klaus Meine
Meine performing in 2007
Background information
Born	25 May 1948 Hannover, Germany
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, tambourine
Years active	1965–present
Labels	RCA, Mercury, Sony BMG
Associated acts	Scorpions, Avantasia
Notable instruments
Dommenget Doublecut "Black Beauty"

Klaus Meine (born 25 May 1948) is a German vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the hard rock band Scorpions. He and guitarist Rudolf Schenker are the only two members of the group to appear on every Scorpions album. Meine was placed at #22 on Hit Parader's Top Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time list in 2006.^[1]

Biography

Meine is well-noted for his unique tenor voice^[2] and polished delivery which ranges from high notes to soft ballads.

Meine wrote most of the lyrics to Scorpions' songs. He also shared authorship of some lyrics with Herman Rarebell (former drummer of Scorpions) on some songs like the major hit "Rock You Like a Hurricane", among others. Meine composed some songs alone like "Wind of Change", "You and I", "But the Best for You", "Does Anyone Know", "A Moment in a Million Years", "Moment of Glory", "I Wanted to Cry", "Back to You", "My City, My Town", "Follow Your Heart", "Rock'n' Roll Band", "The World We Used To Know" and "Who We Are".^[3]

In 1981, after a world tour and during the recording of the Blackout album, Meine lost his voice to the extent that he couldn't even speak properly. Meine was advised by his doctor to consider another profession because of his voice problems. However, Scorpions stuck together, and, after therapy and two vocal cord surgeries, Meine's voice recovered.

In 1990, Klaus performed in the "Live In Berlin" rendition of Roger Waters' "The Wall." Klaus was a highlight singer during the performance. In the year 2000, he was awarded the city of Hannover plaque.^[4] and the Cross of Merit First Class (Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse) of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit. In 2008, Dommenget released a Klaus Meine signature guitar that was given to him on his 60th birthday. On the Humanity World Tour and the Get Your Sting And Blackout World Tour, Klaus has used this guitar when performing.^[5]

Besides the Scorpions, he has also collaboration in "Bridge to Heaven" with Uli Jon Roth; "Send Me An Angel," "Bigger than life", "Keep the World Child" and "Jerusalem of Gold" with the Israeli singer Liel Kolet; in "Bis wohin reicht mein Leben" from Rilke Projekt; "Wind of Change" with the tenor José Carreras and the song "Dying for an Angel" from the album "The Wicked Symphony" from Avantasia, as well as in the promotional video clip.

References

1. "Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". HearYa - Indie Music Blog. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
2. "Klaus Meine". Retrieved 2013-08-11.
3. "Metal-Rules.com: Scorpions Interview with Klaus Meine". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
4. http://www.hannover.de/de/buerger/entwicklung/oberbuergermeister_rat_bezirksraete/ob_buer/ob_fotog/ob_aus08.html
5. "Boris Dommenget Guitarmaker handmade Guitars and Pickups". Retrieved 26 January 2016.

External links

• Klaus Meine at the Internet Movie Database