| Tokio Hotel | |
|---|---|
Tokio Hotel, 2010. L-R: Georg Listing, Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, and Gustav Schäfer |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Magdeburg, Germany |
| Genres | Alternative rock, electronic rock, pop rock,[1][2] teen pop[3][4][5] emo,[6] pop punk (early) |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Universal Music Germany, Cherrytree, Interscope |
| Website | www.tokiohotel.com |
| Members | |
| Bill Kaulitz Tom Kaulitz Georg Listing Gustav Schäfer |
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Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing.[7] The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there.[8] After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, Schrei, as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. Schrei sold more than half a million copies worldwide[9] and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album Zimmer 483 and their first English album Scream which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, Zimmer 483, spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, Scream, spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ).
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Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg-Club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage.[10][11] Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts.[12] After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels.[10] Soon after Sony BMG took them under contract, Hoffmann hired David Jost and Pat Benzner into the team of creators and authors, and had them give the teens instruction on songwriting and instrument playing; most of the songs of the first album were written by Hoffmann, Jost and Benzer (including the singles "Scream" and "Rescue me" which were completely written by them), only the single "Unendlichkeit" was written completely by Tokio Hotel themselves. Shortly before release of their first album, Sony terminated their contract. In 2005, Universal Music Group took Tokio Hotel under contract and developed a marketing plan. The band is now one of the biggest modern acts from Germany and the biggest in 20 years.
Their first single, "Durch den Monsun" ("Through the Monsoon"), quickly rose in the charts, appearing on the German official Media Control single chart at #15 on August 20, 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on August 26, 2005; it also reached #1 on the Austrian singles chart. Their second single, "Schrei" ("Scream"), climbed to the #5 position in the German charts. These two songs were written by singer Bill Kaulitz together with their group of producers Peter Hoffmann, David Jost, Pat Benzer and Dave Roth. Their debut album, Schrei, was released on September 19, 2005, and was certified triple gold by the BVMI in 2006 for selling over 300,000 copies in Germany.[13] In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.
The first single off their second album Zimmer 483 (Room 483), called "Übers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. Zimmer 483 was released in Germany on February 23, 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on April 7. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.
Tokio Hotel's first English language album, Scream, was released on June 4, 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as Room 483 in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album Zimmer 483. Scream contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums Scream and Zimmer 483. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.
Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.
Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.
Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on December 11, 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York.[14] After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on March 25 and in the US on May. 6
The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems.[15] He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.[16][17]
Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation.[18] He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords.[19] The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated.[20] Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation.[21] If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged.[15][22] Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008[23] and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.
Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards,[24] where they also won the award for Best New Artist.[25] They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.[26]
In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, Humanoid, which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S.[27][28][29] This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release.[30][31][32] The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide.[31][32]
On August 10, it was announced on MTV news that the first German single would be "Automatisch" and its English counterpart, "Automatic", would also be released as a first single in the United States. On August 20, MTV Buzzworthy released a video which previewed "Automatic" and Cherrytree Records announced that the English version of the song would be released in the US on September 22.[33][34] Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.
On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single.[35] The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.
On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.
On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.
On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.
Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.
On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the bands first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.
On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan.[36] Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".[37]
Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.[38]
On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial.[39] Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week.[39]
Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989, in Leipzig ten minutes after his identical twin brother, Tom.
Tom Kaulitz (born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, German Democratic Republic) is a German guitarist singer, songwriter and model from Tokio Hotel. He is the twin brother of Bill Kaulitz, and Tom was born 10 minutes before Bill.
Tom Kaulitz and Bill Kaulitz were born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig. Their parents, Simone and Jörg Kaulitz, separated when Tom and Bill were seven years old. Their mother married Gordon Trumper in August 2009.
Tom's guitar playing and Bill's singing showed their natural aptitude for music, and gave an early indication of their potential. Trumper helped the twins to start their own band. He and Bill began writing music at the age of seven years old.
The twins met Georg Listing (then 14) and Gustav Schäfer (then 13), in the audience of one of the twins' shows. Listing and Schäfer were friends and after the show, having liked what they heard and saw, offered to join. The band was promptly re-named "Devilish" due to an article published at the time that referred to their "devilishly great" sound. In 2003, Bill entered the reality TV talent show "Star Search" and became well known.
This continued until 2005 when David Jost arranged a meeting between the band and Universal Music Group's Interscope Records and Tokio Hotel was signed. They began working immediately, releasing their debut LP Schrei ("Scream") later that year. Their first single from the album Schrei was "Durch den Monsun" ("Through The Monsoon"), which reached #1 in Germany within a month of its release.
More trouble came for Kaulitz when in late 2008/early 2009 several female stalkers pursued the band relentlessly, even following his twin brother Bill Kaulitz to his parents' home in Germany and attacked the twins' mother. The issue seemed to end after Tom allegedly hit one of the stalkers at a gas station in April 2009 and drove off. However, a recent article in Bild stated that the issue had resurfaced and that Tom Kaulitz may stand trial for assault. In late December 2009, the charges against Tom were lifted and he is pressing charges himself — against the girl he allegedly hit — on grounds of stalking.
Tom Kaulitz and his identical twin brother, Bill, used to live in Hamburg but moved to Los Angeles following an incident involving stalkers and a robbery. They have stated that it is easier for them to work on their new album, as they are closer to their manager David Jost. They are currently living in Los Angeles but also have a second home in Hamburg. Tom and Bill modelled for a PETA.de photoshoot. Bill also models for Reebok sneakers and shoes. Tom is friends with Nicole Scherzinger. Tom prefers to listen to hip-hop music. His favorite rapper is Samy Deluxe. As of September 2007[update], Tom uses Gibson guitars and Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Heads with Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4x12 cabinets. Tom currently has his hair in cornrows, which he had done in early 2009. Tom had allegedly been dating Chantelle Paige after the stalker incident, but later it was said that they had been going out to better publicise Tom and his band, as well as Chantelle’s band, Flipsyde. In an interview with her, Chantelle had said : "I think Tom is quite nice, actually he is my dream boy".
Georg (Moritz Hagen) Listing was born on March 31, 1987. His hometown is Halle. He began playing bass when he was thirteen years old,[10] and, as of September 2007[update], uses a Sandberg bass.[40] He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers,[41] and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.[10]
Gustav (Klaus Wolfgang) Schäfer was born on September 8, 1988 in his hometown of Magdeburg. He currently lives in Magdeburg and in the temporary home in Hamburg where the studio is. Gustav has been playing the drums since he was five. His musical influences include Metallica, Joe Cocker, and Rod Stewart.
Since the release of the "Durch den Monsun" single in 2005, Tokio Hotel have gone on to win 102 awards in various categories and countries.
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Best Newcomer | Comet Awards (Germany) | October 6 |
| Super Comet | Comet Awards (Germany) | October 6 |
| Best Newcomer | Eins Live Krone | November 24 |
| Best Pop National Act | Bambi Awards | December 1 |
| Best Single | Golden Penguin (Austria) | ...2005 |
| Best Pop | Golden Penguin (Austria) | ...2005 |
| Rock Band 2005 | Golden Penguin (Austria) | ...2005 |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Album of the year | Golden Penguin (Austria) | February 8 |
| Band of the year | Golden Penguin (Austria) | February 8 |
| Song of the year – ‘Der Letzte Tag’ | Golden Penguin (Austria) | February 8 |
| Best Newcomer | Golden Penguin (Austria) | February 8 |
| Ausverkaufte Tourhalle | Sold-out-Award of Königpilsener Arena | March 11 |
| Best Newcomer | ECHO Awards (Germany) | March 12 |
| Best Newcomer | Steiger Awards | March 25 |
| Pop National | Radio Regenbogen (Germany) | March 31 |
| SuperBand Rock – Golden Otto | Bravo Otto | May 6 |
| Music Award | Bild OSGAR | May 22 |
| Best Newcomer International | Popcorn Awards (Hungary) | May 26 |
| Best Newcomer | Bravo Otto (Hungary) | June 24 |
| Best International Band | Bravo Otto (Hungary) | June 24 |
| Best Newcomer Band | Popkomm Bavarian Music Lion | September 21 |
| Best German Pop Band | Goldene Stimmgabel | September 24 |
| Best Selling German Artist | World Music Awards | November 15 |
| Best Pop National Act | Bambi Awards | November 30 |
| Best Live Act | Eins Live Krone | December 7 |
| Best Rock band | MTV France |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Single of the Year – Durch Den Monsun | Golden Penguin | |
| Best Selling German Act – Album Schrei | European Border Breakers Award | January 21 |
| European Border Breakers Award | NRJ Awards | January 21 |
| Rock Award | BZ-Kulturpreis | January 23 |
| Best Video National | ECHO Awards (Germany) | March 25 |
| SuperBand Rock – Golden otto | Bravo Otto | April 28 |
| Best Video | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 3 |
| Best Band | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 3 |
| Supercomet | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 3 |
| Best Band | Jabra Music | July 2007 |
| Digital prize | Festivalbar (Italy) | September 7 |
| Most Successful Group Rock International | Goldene Stimmgabel | September 22 |
| Most Successful Popgroup International | Goldene Stimmgabel Awards | October 3 |
| Best Album | TMF Awards (Belgium) | October 14 |
| Best Video | TMF Awards (Belgium) | October 14 |
| Best New Artist | TMF Awards (Belgium) | October 14 |
| Best Pop | TMF Awards (Belgium) | October 14 |
| Best International Act | MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany) | November 1 |
| Best band of the Year | MTV Italy Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award | December 1 |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Band of the Year 2007 | Golden Penguin (Austria) | January |
| Best International Band | Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden) | January 24 |
| Best Music National | Goldene Kamera (Germany) | February 6 |
| Best Music Video | Echo Awards (Germany) | February 15 |
| Best International Artist | Emma Gala Awards (Finland) | March 8 |
| Best International Group | Disney Channel Kids Award (Italy) | March 28 |
| Best Concert | Hitkrant (Netherlands) | May 2008 |
| Best Mood Song – Monsoon | Hitkrant (Netherlands) | May 2008 |
| Song that Satys in your Head – Monsoon | Hitkrant (Netherlands) | May 2008 |
| Superband Rock – Silver Otto | Bravo Otto | May 3 |
| Best Band | MTV TRL Awards (Italy) | May 17 |
| Best Number 1 of the Year with Monsoon | MTV TRL Awards (Italy) | May 17 |
| Best Band | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 23 |
| Best Video – An Deiner Seite | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 23 |
| Best Live Act | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 23 |
| Super Comet | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 23 |
| Best New Artist | MTV VMA Music Awards (USA) | September 7 |
| Fan Choice Best Entrance | MTV VMA Music Awards (USA) | September 7 |
| Best Male Artist International (Bill Kaulitz) | TMF Awards[42] (Belgium) | October 11 |
| Best Video International – Don't Jump | TMF Awards[42] (Belgium) | October 11 |
| Song of the Year | MTV Latin America Awards (Mexico) | October 16 |
| Best Fanclub-Venezuela | MTV Latin America Awards (Mexico) | October 16 |
| Best New Artist-International | MTV Latin America Awards (Mexico) | October 16 |
| Best Ringtone | MTV Latin America Awards (Mexico) | October 16 |
| Headliner | MTV Europe Music Awards (England) | November 6 |
| Best Selling DVD: ZImmer 483 – Live in Europe | Rekord (Russia) | December 2 |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| SuperBand – Golden Otto | Bravo Otto (Germany) | May 12 |
| Best TRL Artist of the Year | MTV TRL Awards (Italy) | May 16 |
| Best Online Star | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 29 |
| Export Hit of Germany | Bavarian Music Lion | September 17 |
| International Award (2009) | Audi Generation Award (Germany) | October 18 |
| Best Group[43] | MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany) | November 5 |
| Best International Rock Band | Telehit Awards (Mexico) | November 12 |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Band of the Year | Golden Penguin (Austria) | January 29 |
| Album of the Year | Golden Penguin (Austria) | January 29 |
| Band of the Year | Bravoora Awards (Poland) | February 1 |
| Best International Artist | Emma Gala Awards (Finland) | February 4 |
| Walk of Fame | König-Pilsener Arena (Germany) | February 26 |
| Best International Band | Radio Regenbogen Awards (Germany) | March 19 |
| Favorite Music Star | Kids Choice Awards 2010 (Germany) | April 10 |
| Best Live Act | Comet Awards (Germany) | May 21 |
| Foreign Song of the Year - World Behind My Wall | Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden) | September 1 |
| Concert of the Year | Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden) | September 1 |
| Best World Stage Performance | MTV Europe Music Awards (Spain) | November 7 |
| Best Band National[44] | CMA Awards (Germany) | December 12 |
| Best Single National - World Behind My Wall[45] | CMA Awards (Germany) | December 12 |
| Category | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Band of the Year | Bravoora Awards (Poland) [46] | March |
| Star of the 20th Anniversary | Bravoora Awards (Poland) [46] | March |
| Best Fan Army (Fan Army FTW) | MTV O Music Awards (USA) [47] | April 28 |
| Best Rock Video | MTV Video Music Awards Japan [48] | July 2 |
| Best Fan Army (Fan Army FTW) | MTV O Music Awards (USA)[47] | October 31 |
Straightforward pop-rock with catchy melodies and a well-calculated mix of stolen Metallica riffs and romantic ballad elements. Everything is played on the safe side, and the production is technically perfect.
Straightforward pop-rock with catchy melodies and a well-calculated mix of stolen Metallica riffs and romantic ballad elements. Everything is played on the safe side, and the production is technically perfect.
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