Scorpions

The Scorpions are a German hard rock/heavy metal band formed in Hanover in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. The longest-running and most successful line-up of the band included Schenker, Klaus Meine (vocals), Matthias Jabs (lead guitar), Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums), and lasted from 1978 to 1992. The Scorpions' only remaining original member has been Schenker, although Meine has been with the band continuously since 1969, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978 and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been members since 2003 and 2016, respectively.

The band's debut album, Lonesome Crow (1972), featured Schenker's younger brother Michael on lead guitar, before he departed to join UFO. He was replaced by Uli Jon Roth, who played with the band on their next four studio albums, Fly to the Rainbow (1974), In Trance (1975), Virgin Killer (1976) and Taken by Force (1977), and their first live album Tokyo Tapes (1978). Following Roth's departure, the band recruited Matthias Jabs and began moving towards a more melodic rock style on their sixth studio album Lovedrive (1979), which also saw the Scorpions reunite briefly with Michael Schenker before he left again to begin a solo career. Over the next decade, the band achieved influence, approval from music critics, and significant commercial success with the albums Animal Magnetism (1980), Blackout (1982), Love at First Sting (1984), the live album World Wide Live (1985), Savage Amusement (1988), the compilation album Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads (1989) and Crazy World (1990), all of which are certified at least platinum in the United States. The band has released thirteen consecutive studio albums that were in the top 10 in Germany, one of which reached No. 1, as well as three consecutive albums that were in the top 10 in the Billboard 200 in the United States. Their latest studio album, Rock Believer, was released in February 2022.

The Scorpions are estimated to have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling hard rock and heavy metal bands of all time. One of their most recognized hits is "Wind of Change" (from Crazy World), a symbolic anthem of the political changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it remains as one of the best-selling singles in the world with over 14 million copies. Two songs from their ninth studio album Love at First Sting, "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Still Loving You", are regarded as some of the most influential and popular works, both in heavy metal music and among rock ballads, defined as "rock anthem" and "a true hymn of love", respectively.

They became the first heavy metal band from a non-English-speaking country to achieve international success.