Klaus Meine

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Klaus Meine is a German singer, born in 1948 in Hanover. For decades he has been the frontman and main lyricist of the hard rock band Scorpions. The group had existed since 1965; Meine joined in 1969. Together with guitarist Rudolf Schenker he is the only member heard on all of the band's albums. As a boy he listened to Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Music and breakthrough

Meine has a high voice with a wide range. He wrote most of the Scorpions' lyrics. With drummer Herman Rarebell he wrote Rock You Like a Hurricane and Still Loving You, among others. In 1981, after a world tour and during the recording of the album Blackout, he lost his voice so badly that he could hardly speak. His doctor advised him to choose another profession. After therapy and two operations on his vocal cords he was able to sing again after all.

Influence

He wrote his best-known song alone: Wind of Change. The Scorpions played in Moscow in 1989, at the time when the Soviet Union was opening up to the West, and Meine was so impressed by the atmosphere that he made a song about it. After the fall of the Wall, Wind of Change became an anthem for the end of the Cold War. In 1990 Meine appeared with the Scorpions at the performance of Roger Waters's The Wall in Berlin. In this way a German hard rock singer became the voice of a historic moment.

Listening

In School of Rock

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