Biography: The Michael Schenker Group

This will be the first time that Michael Schenker, Herman Rarebell, Pete Way, Michael Voss, Elliott “Dean” Rubinson and Wayne Findlay will be touring together with this new line-up promoting Michael Shenker’s Brand New Album “Temple Of Rock” to be released in September. The Tour will start on July 22 and will last until the 31st. A great new set will be performed with lots of Michael Schenker Classics from UFO to Scorpions and MSG as well as songs from the new album.

Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955 in Sarstedt, Lower Saxony) is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the Michael Schenker Group in various incarnations. He is the younger brother of Rudolf Schenker, who is still a guitarist with the Scorpions. His career has had many ups and downs, partly due to a long history of alcoholism and personal problems; still, Schenker continues to perform and record and to maintain a following,and is regarded as “a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar.”

Schenker fell on hard times in the early 2000s. His wife, after selling most of his belongings, divorced him and disappeared with the couple’s son and daughter, and his manager allegedly ran off with his earnings; Schenker ended up having to sell three of his prized Flying V guitars. He picked himself up and got back to the business of making and performing music, recording the album Arachnophobiac and supporting it with two years of touring. In 2004, recognition came from Dean Guitars, which began producing a Schenker signature Dean V (with subtle differences from the Gibson, but with the split black and white trademark Schenker finish).

2005 brought the 25th anniversary of the Michael Schenker Group. Schenker put together a new album of songs called Tales of Rock’n'Roll to celebrate the anniversary and enlisted singers from each iteration of the band to sing on the album. However, in that same year the collection Heavy Hitters, a set of covers featuring Schenker and a revolving group of heavy metal all-stars, was marketed as a Michael Schenker Group album, with the result that Schenker only received a flat fee.

After nearly-disastrous North American and European tours in 2007, which saw canceled shows and less-than-stellar performances caused by heavy drinking, Schenker regained his composure and hit the road in the UK as Michael Schenker & Friends in 2008. Early 2008, Schenker worked with Gary Barden, Don Airey, Simon Phillips, and Neil Murray on a new MSG album In the Midst of Beauty, which was released in May 2008, followed by touring.

In 2009 Schenker toured extensively including Russia, UK and the USA with MSG including original members Gary Barden and Chris Glenn. With Schenker now clean shaven and having lost weight many fans commented that he both looked and sounded his best, with the tour receiving rave reviews from loyal fans.

On 10 November 2010 Michael Schenker was honoured with an Award in London along other Rock Legends including Ron Wood and Slash. The Award was presented to Michael by Alice Cooper. It seemed as if most of the Essence of Rock was present from Legends such as Jimmy Page to Toni Iommi to John Paul Jones and many others. The Marshall “11” award—given to those artists and musicians who represent rock ’n’ roll excess and livin’ on the edge – went to German rock guitarist Michael Schenker, whose fame as a founding member of The Scorpions and later the lead guitar player for UFO has given him universal recognition as one of the most legendary figures in metal guitar.

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