Axel Rudi Pell - Catch-up date

Does anyone remember 1989? When Axel Rudi Pell launched his solo career with the release of his first album "Wild Obsession" on December 1st, the Berlin Wall had just fallen. That was a small eternity ago. The world has changed, but Axel Rudi Pell hasn't. For three decades, the Bochum-based guitarist and his band have been delivering one high-quality hard rock album after another like Swiss clockwork.

The anniversary album, a live recording of the last tour, was also released by the same record company as in 1989; the contract with SPV has now lasted longer than most marriages. "SPV and I have grown together, experienced and mastered ups and downs together," the now 58-year-old sums up. "Never change a winning team" is the secret of his success. The German musician has sold over 1.6 million physical records to date and his songs have been streamed over 37.5 million times in total. Figures he would never have dared to dream of 30 years ago.

"If the whole thing hadn't worked out, I would probably still be bored in my trained profession as an industrial clerk." Make it or break it: When he entered the charts for the first time in 1994 at number 90 with his fourth album "Between The Walls", Pell knew that he was on the right track; and he hasn't strayed from it yet. One reason for this is his good instinct: "There were and are hardly any singers in Germany who match my music." That's why he positioned himself internationally from the outset and was able to draw on world-renowned frontmen on his first albums in Charlie Huhn (ex-Ted Nugent, -Gary Moore, - Victory, now Foghat), Rob Rock (ex-Impellitteri, -Driver) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, - Talisman, now Sons Of Apollo). Since 1998, Pell and ex-Hardline singer Johnny Gioeli have enjoyed a creative symbiosis with no end in sight. And with the arrival of ex-Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Blue Öyster C ult drummer Bobby Rondinelli in 2013, the band has made another leap in quality, in which keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg (since 1998) and bassist Volker Krawczak (since 1989) have played an equally large part. The fact that Pell has put his heart and soul into his career is also acknowledged by the greats of the genre:

When Pell and the band were allowed to accompany the Black Sabbath offshoot Heaven & Hell in Germany in 2009, their singer Ronnie James Dio (who died in 2010) ennobled the support: "You got the gig because you're good." You can spin it any way you like: Over the last 30 years, Pell has been one of the constants in international hard rock. Speaking of which, he also has a long history with the Wacken Open Air: Pell has played at the world's biggest heavy metal festival six times since 1999, "always on the main stage." Because: "Wacken and I have also grown together. It's fascinating to see how you can hold your own in front of so many fans with your own songs."

Pell is now also a star in Russia: at the end of March 2019, he performed at an award show in the Kremlin alongside Chris De Burgh, Michael Bolton and Leona Lewis and wowed over 2,000 fans the following evening in a show that had been sold out for weeks. "People sang along to all the lyrics, I couldn't really move freely outside the hotel, I had to sign autographs everywhere and was asked for selfies." And that's not all: in July 2019, Pell will also be performing at the renowned 'White Nights' festival in St. Petersburg. Fittingly, "XXX Anniversary Live", the 30th album of his 30-year solo career, will be released on June 7, 2019; a worthy milestone and recording of the last tour, which he had not planned at all; but the routine recordings, including from Bochum and Budapest, quickly turned out to be a worthy successor to "Magic Moments", the 3-hour show from the 2014 'Bang Your Head' festival for the 25th anniversary.

And there is no end in sight, as Pell is planning to release another studio album in the fall. The Swiss clockwork from the Ruhr continues to run.