Axel Rudi Pell

Axel Rudi Pell, born June 27, 1960 in Bochum Germany, is a Hard rock and Heavy metal guitarist. His band also bears the same name.

Does anybody remember 1989? When Axel Rudi Pell released his first solo effort “Wild Obsession”, the Berlin Wall had just come down. It’s been ages, right? And the world has changed. Axel Rudi Pell hasn’t. For three decades, the Bochum-based guitarist has ticked and worked like a Swiss clock releasing critically acclaimed hard rocking albums consistently. Like his anniversary offering, a live document of his most recent tour. And it will come out on the same record company as his debut in 1989; his contract with legendary label SPV having lasted longer than the average marriage these days.

“SPV and I have grown together, we have witnessed highs and lows and we’ve managed to get through them all,” the 58-year-old musician states back in 2018, with a smile. “Never change a winning team” is the secret of his success. Having sold more than 1.6 million records so far, Axel Rudi Pell also has a ridiculous amount of online streams: his songs have been streamed more than 37.5 million times, figures he would never have dreamt of when he first started out.

“If the whole thing hadn’t taken off, I’d be bored to tears in my trained job as an industrial management assistant to this very day.” Make it or break it: Since his very first chart entry with his fourth studio album “Between The Walls” in 1994 (no. 90 in the German charts), Axel Rudi Pell has known that he’s been heading in the right direction. After that he’s never taken a wrong turn. One reason for this is his flair for talent: “In Germany there hardly were and still aren’t any singers who are compatible with my music.” For this reason, he has thought in international terms from the start, his first few albums featuring some of the world’s best vocalists in the hard rock genre: Charlie Huhn (Ted Nugent, Gary Moore, Victory, Foghat), Rob Rock (Impellitteri, Driver) and Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen, Talisman, Sons Of Apollo, SOTO). When former Hardline frontman Johnny Gioeli joined in 1998, they formed a creative unit that has lasted ever since, no end in sight.

And after Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Blue Öyster Cult drummer Bobby Rondinelli joined the Pell fold in 2013, the band – which also features keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg (since 1998) and bassist Volker Krawczak (since 1989) – has made another huge leap forward in terms of quality. Blood, sweat and tears mean a lot to Pell, which was recognized by the great and late Ronnie James Dio, too: When Pell and his band got the opening slot for Heaven & Hell (the Dio-fronted version of Black Sabbath) in Germany in 2009, the legendary singer knighted his support act, saying: “You’ve got the job because you’re good.” Take it or leave it, over the last thirty years Axel Rudi Pell has been one of the constant and eminent figures of the international hard rock circus. Speaking of which: He has a long history with Wacken as well. Since 1999, Axel Rudi Pell has played the main stage of the world’s biggest heavy metal festival six times. Because: “Wacken and I have grown together, too. It’s fascinating to see how many fans you can reach with your own songs.”

Even in Russia Pell is a star in his own right. He took the stage at an award show at the Moscow Kremlin at the end of March 2019, performing alongside renowned acts such as Chris De Burgh, Michael Bolton and Leona Lewis, selling out a 2,000-capacity venue the night after that. “The fans sang along to all the lyrics, I couldn’t move anywhere without signing autographs and having selfies taken.” That Pell hysteria has led to another Russian adventure: He is set to perform during the prestigious ‘White Nights’ festival in St. Petersburg in July 2019.

On time for this event “XXX Anniversary Live”, his 30th album release in as many years, saw the light of day on June 6th 2019. A milestone by all accounts and a stunning document of his most recent tour which he did not plan at all, but the recordings, from Bochum and Budapest among others, were so good that he felt he just couldn’t scrap them. They are a worthy follow-up to “Magic Moments”, his 3-hour anniversary show at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in 2014, where he celebrated 25 years as a solo artist.

Steeler was a Heavy metal band from the German city of Bochum formed in 1981. The band was active between 1981 and 1988. The founding members consisted of Peter Burtz on vocals, Axel Rudi Pell on guitar, Tom Eder also on guitar, Volker Krawczak on bass and Jan Yildiral on drums. The band was named after "Steeler", a song from Judas Priest album British Steel.

The band released two albums with this lineup, one a self-titled album, "Steeler", and the other titled "Rulin' the Earth". After the first two albums, Volker Krawczak was replaced by Roland Hag; this new lineup released two more albums, Strike Back and "Undercover Animal". After this the band split up.

Axel Rudi Pell went on to start a successful solo career under his own name, with Krawczak on bass. His solo band is still performing and releasing albums to this day.

After the break-up of Steeler, vocalist Peter Burtz became the editor-in-chief of Metal Hammer Germany from 1989 to 1991 before taking on the role of head of A&R at EMI-Electrola in 1992. Between 1997 and 1999, Peter Burtz was Managing Director of EMI Germany. He then went into producing radio comedy with parodist Elmar Brandt, earning the Deutsche Comedypreis (German Comedy Prize) in 1999 for their "Die Gerd-Show", named after then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Burtz and Brandt landed various Top 20 hits spoofing the singing Chancellor, most notably 2002's "Steuersong" ("Tax Song"), which sold millions and topped the German Media Control Charts for 18 weeks. Burtz is now the manager of controversial German TV host and political satirist Jan Böhmermann.

In 1989, "Wild Obsession" was released, the first album by Axel Rudi Pell's new band, which formed under his own name. In addition to Pell, the debut album featured Charlie Huhn from Gary Moore's backing band and from the band Victory, Volker Krawczak from Steeler, Jörg Deisinger from Bonfire, Bodo Smuszynski, and Jörg Michael from Mekong Delta and Running Wild, George Hahn, and Rüdiger König. Uli Pösselt produced the recording.

The second album, "Nasty Reputation", was released in 1991 and was heavier than its predecessor. Several lineup changes had taken place. Rob Rock from Impellitteri replaced Huhn on vocals, while Deisinger and Smuszynski left the band without replacement. Kai Raglewski replaced Georg Hahn and Rüdiger König on keyboards.

"Eternal Prisoner" was released in 1992, with Jeff Scott Soto replacing Rob Rock. Kai Raglewski then left the band. Julie Greaux was hired as a replacement and played in 1995 on one live "Made in Germany" and two studio albums, "Between the Walls" & "Black Moon Pyramid" until 1996. Drummer Jörg Michael, in addition to his work with Axel Rudi Pell, had meanwhile joined the band Stratovarius. On 1997's "Magic", a new keyboardist, Christian Wolff, was heard again. By then, clear influences of Deep Purple and especially Rainbow could be heard in the recordings.

In 1998, Jeff Scott Soto left the band. Johnny Gioeli of Hardline debuted as the new singer on "Oceans of Time". (1998) Continuing the turnover of keyboardists, Ferdy Doernberg of Rough Silk replaced Christian Wolff on the album. That same year, long-time drummer Jörg Michael left the band. They found a replacement in Mike Terrana, who had previously played with Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine and was also active in Rage. With this now stable lineup, a number of albums were released in the following years, "The Masquerade Ball" (2000), Shadow Zone (2002), and "Kings and Queens" (2004). The band also played at various German music festivals, including the 2008 Berlinale.

In 2005 at Wacken Open Air and at Bang Your Head!!!. In August 2006, Mystica was released.

The cover album Diamonds Unlocked was released on September 28, 2007. It includes well-known hits such as "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins and "Beautiful Day" by U2. On February 22, 2008, Axel Rudi Pell's second double DVD, "Live Over Europe", was released. The first DVD is a recording of the performance at the 2007 "Rock Hard" festival, the second is an official bootleg with mostly "unprofessional" recordings.

The album Tales of the Crown was released on October 24, 2008. At the end of the song "Riding on an Arrow", the four-year-old son of singer Johnny Gioeli sings the last chorus. During the tour for this album, the band played, among other things, in Berlin. as the opening act for Heaven and Hell and at Wacken Open Air.

The following album, The Crest, was released on April 23, 2010. The compilation album, "The Ballads IV", was also released on September 23, 2011. The single Hallelujah (a cover of the Leonard Cohen song) was released at the end of August, featuring a music video for the first time since 1994.

The album "Circle of the Oath" was released in 2012. There were no shows in 2013, and on July 9 of that year, Pell announced via Facebook that Mike Terrana had left the band after 15 years due to scheduling conflicts. He was succeeded by Bobby Rondinelli (ex-Black Sabbath, Rainbow, among others), the album "Into The Storm", was his first album with the band, released on August 22, 2014.

To mark the band's 25th anniversary in 2014, Axel Rudi Pell played a special, Axel Rudi Pell & Friends show at the Bang Your Head!!! festival. He also performed with his former band Steeler. Guests included Vinny Appice, Graham Bonnet, Doogie White, Tony Carey, John Lawton, Ronnie Atkins, Michael Voss, Rebellious Spirit, and Sabina Classen. Former members Jeff Scott Soto, Rob Rock, and Jörg Michael also performed at the concert. The show was recorded and released in Germany on April 24, 2015, as a DVD, Blu-ray, or CD box set under the title "Magic Moments – 25th Anniversary Special Show".

The studio album "Game of Sins" was released on January 15, 2016, and its follow-up, "Knights Call", was released on March 23, 2018. On April 6, 2020, Axel Rudi Pell released the song "Quarantined 1", which he recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On February 5, 2020, they announced their latest, 19th album on their Facebook page, titled "Sign of the Times", due for release on April 24, 2020. In March 2020, the band announced a delay of the release of the new record, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and was released on May 8, 2020 instead. A tour in support of the new album was also postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then later delayed again until 2022. In late 2020, Pell announced his newest album "Diamonds Unlocked II", which was released on 30 July 30, 2021. It is another covers album similar to Diamonds Unlocked from 2007.

Axel Rudi Pell is well known for his extensive touring, mostly around Germany and his home town in Bochum. He rarely tours globally, but has performed a few one-off shows in London over the recent years. However, there has always been high demand to bring him to other countries. They are also famous for attending many music festivals such as being regulars at Wacken Open Air since the late 1990s. The next album, "Lost XXIII" was released on April 15, 2022.

"The Ballads VI", was released in early 2023.

The group was appearing at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2024. In 2024 the band released the album, "Risen Symbol"