Michael Kiske (born 24 January 1968) is a German singer who is the co-lead vocalist for the power metal band Helloween. Kiske has also released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic, has participated on various metal and rock related projects such as Avantasia, Place Vendome and Kiske/Somerville, and has performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist.
Prior to joining Helloween, Kiske sang with the German band Ill Prophecy at the age of 17. The band recorded a demo, but it was never released commercially.[1]
Personal life
According to Kiske "Usually I do a lot of reading, I like to watch American Sitcoms, I like Comedy, I like Science Fiction movies. When it comes to books I'm reading a lot of serious stuff. Maybe this is the balancing. When you read serious stuff, you also need to have fun that brings you down."[2] "I'm very sensitive and I take betrayal very, very heavy. I don't wanna sound stupid, but I think I'm a good friend. If I call someone a friend, he's my friend, and it stays that way, and I don't betray...After the split with Helloween, I kind of locked myself up and was basically just living in books for a number of years. I had some amazing years just being like spiritual. Just being, thinking, learning and trying to understand life. The musician's life is very often very superficial. Everything happens as a big party, so the years after Helloween were the total opposite of that. I didn't have much happening on the outside, everything happened on the inside."[3]
At the age of eighteen, Kiske was asked to join the German power metal band Helloween, which was fronted by singer/guitarist Kai Hansen. Hansen had some difficulties being both the lead guitarist and lead vocalist, and it was decided that a new vocalist would be needed. According to Kiske "I started very early as a singer, I got my school band and when I just barely got out of high school Markus from Helloween showed up in the rehearsal room telling me they were looking for a singer."[4] Kiske rejected Helloween's first offer, because he disliked the sound of the band's Walls of Jericho album, but accepted the second and joined Helloween in late 1986. Kiske's first album with the band was 1987's Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I, widely considered to be one of Helloween's best albums and a milestone in the creation of the power metal genre. Helloween went on to release Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II in 1988, which went gold in Germany and brought even more success than its predecessor.[5] The Keeper of the Seven Keys albums proved to be highly influential and aided in the formation of a new wave of European power metal bands, such as Blind Guardian,[6]Stratovarius,[7]HammerFall[8] and Edguy.[9] The album's worldwide success enabled the band to embark on an extensive world tour and perform at famous festivals such as Monsters of Rock. [10][11]
After the completion of the band's 1988 headlining tour, the album Live in the UK was released, while Kai Hansen left the band and was replaced by guitarist Roland Grapow.
Legal disputes with their record company, prevented Helloween from releasing new material until 1991's Pink Bubbles Go Ape, which was followed by 1993's Chameleon. These two albums saw the band moving away from their power metal roots and experimenting with different sounds. Both Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon were commercial failures and resulted in Kiske leaving Helloween. Kiske was fired from the band in 1993, reportedly for personal reasons. He was replaced by Pink Cream 69's Andi Deris, who has remained with Helloween ever since.[1][11]
In 2016, it was announced that Michael Kiske would join Helloween, together with Kai Hansen, for a reunion tour that would take place during 2017 and 2018.[12] Kiske stated in 2018 that "For a long time, this was totally impossible for me, because I was hurt and full of anger and I didn't want to have anything to do with it. For a long time I didn't want anything to do with the metal scene. It went very deep. But in the last couple of years before the reunion, without me noticing, things changed somehow, and I realized something is different when I ran into Michael Weikath. It was a festival and suddenly I was standing in front of him and he said something like, 'Michael, what have I done that you can't forgive me?', which I thought was a great line. Then I just said, 'You know what? I think I have forgiven you a long time ago.' That was just how I felt. There was no anger — I was totally relaxed."[13] It took another year until he agreed to take part in the reunion tour, as he asserted during a 2017 interview: "We'd just played some shows in Spain with Unisonic. We were getting changed backstage, getting out of our clothes, and Kai said: 'If we don't ever do anything under the name of Helloween again, we're just idiots.' And I said: 'You know what? I'm open.'"[14] "Helloween was the mother ship and this tour somehow sums it up to me. It is almost like a circle that gets to the starting point. I got off the band, I have been through a lot of experiences and I don't want to miss any of it, because I know how important it was to go through all this. I am not angry anymore and I can forgive and forget."[4]
The Pumpkins United World Tour started in October 2017 in South America and continued in Europe with concerts lasting close to three hours.[15] On 8 December 2017 the single Pumpkins United, featuring the reunited line-up, was released.[16] The reunion tour continued throughout 2018 in Japan, Russia, Ukraine and Europe in general, North America, Canada and Latin America.[17] The Pumpkins United World Tour was the biggest one in the band's history as it comprised 69 shows and lasted for 14 months.[18] A live DVD/Blu-ray entitled United Alive and the live album United Alive in Madrid were released on 4 October 2019.[19]
The band embarked on a Brazilian tour in September 2019, which started at Rockfest (Sao Paulo) and ended with their performance at the Rock In Rio Festival.[20]
A new album with Kiske and Hansen was released on 18 June 2021. The self titled album reached top ten positions in several international music charts.[21]
Solo work (1996–2008)
On 16 August 1996, three years after leaving Helloween, Kiske released his first solo album, Instant Clarity.[22] The album featured guest appearances by Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, Kai Hansen and Ciriaco Taraxes and contained songs in a wide variety of styles. A music video for the ballad "Always", dedicated to deceased Helloween drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, was filmed and produced in New York City.
During the same time he also wrote a book, Kunst Und Materialismus, (in English: Art and Materialism.) which is only available in German.[23][24] Kiske said in 2003: "First of all, I wrote this book for myself. First I had to collect and define myself. This was a very good personality enhancement story. I then printed a few thousand in self-publishing. It is very difficult to translate as I have quoted many quotes from thinkers from the good old days in Germany."[25]
His second solo album, Readiness to Sacrifice, was first only released in Japan on the Victor Label in April 1999, and later reissued in Europe 2001 by Noise Records. The music on the album featured Kiske moving completely away from his heavy metal roots towards a smoother AOR sound. Kiske also sang on two symphonic orchestral songs with The Bremer Weser Quartett on strings.[1]
Kiske stated in 2003: "After I left Helloween I was insecure about myself. The situation with Helloween created such an inner conflict inside me, that I needed those albums to rediscover myself. I was disappointed in everything and everyone. I was angry at some people, but most of all of the metal-industry."[26]
In 2003, out of desire to make rock music again, Kiske formed a band with studio musicians, named SupaRed. They released a self-titled album in January 2003 on Noise Records. This album had a modern rock sound and a song structure, distinct from both his solo albums and the heavy metal sound of Helloween. The project was under promoted, unsuccessful and because of some personal reasons Kiske dissolved the band. "It didn't work", he said in an interview.[1]
In 2006, Kiske released his third full-length solo album under the name of Kiske.[27][28] This was his first solo album released by the Italian Frontiers Records. The album contained songs in a mellow, acoustic singer-songwriter style and was a step away from the sound of his previous solo albums. According to Kiske:"It's a healthy-careless and musically free album. I am very proud of this record because it is a true statement from myself".[28]Instant Clarity was also reissued in 2006 with the addition of 4 newly recorded bonus tracks.[29][30] Kiske sees his solo albums as "the best I could do in those days. I see those years after Helloween as a learning phase. I was learning so much...Even the process of setting up the microphones, mastering, mixing."[31]
In 2008, Kiske released his fourth solo work, entitled Past in Different Ways.[32] The album contained acoustic re-arrangements of his old Helloween material and one new song.[33] According to Kiske the album "on one hand shows that I don't reject my past just because I'm a different person today, and on the other hand it can maybe give people who were part of that past a different view at those songs".[34]
In an interview with Spanish Metal Journal, in May 2021, Kiske said that he was recording a new acoustic solo album. The album will contain new songs and various cover versions.[35]
Avantasia (since 2000)
Michael Kiske live with Avantasia in 2013
In 2000, Tobias Sammet (vocalist of the band Edguy) asked Kiske to participate in the rock opera project Avantasia.[1] Kiske agreed to sing on the project, in the role of Lugaid Vandroiy, but only under the nickname of Ernie. The nickname was printed on the back of the first Avantasia release, The Metal Opera, but not on the sequel, The Metal Opera Part II, where he was featured under his real name.[1][36] As Kiske recalls "In the '90s, I didn't even think that I would ever go on stage again or anything like that. I was frustrated and disappointed, and didn't want to have anything to do with it...it started with Toby [Tobias Sammet] talking me into laying vocals down on some of his songs that sounded very Helloween-like. In the beginning I was even saying; 'no, I don't want to do stuff like that anymore'; I was very anti-everything in that direction! But he's the kind of guy that doesn't give up that easily, so he was calling me up and he was really talking me into doing it, and I did it just for him because I liked him. That's why I'm called Ernie on that record [The Metal Opera, 2001]; that was my way of dealing with everybody."[37] He had a main role in the concept of the Metal Opera albums and performed on the songs "Reach Out for the Light", "Breaking Away", "Farewell", "Avantasia", "The Tower", "The Seven Angels" and "No Return".[38]
During 2007, he recorded guest vocals for two Avantasia tracks; "Promised Land" and "Lost in Space [Extended Version]", both of which appeared on the Lost in Space Part I & II compilation album ("Promised Land" was also featured on the EPLost in Space Part II).[39][40]
In 2008, Kiske took part in the Avantasia album The Scarecrow, singing lead on the track "Shelter From The Rain" and backing on the title track and on "What Kind of Love".[41]
On 6 August 2011, Kiske performed with Avantasia at the Wacken Open Air Festival.[45]
During 2013, Kiske took part in the Avantasia album The Mystery of Time, singing on the songs "Where Clock Hands Freeze", "Savior in the Clockwork" and "Dweller in a Dream". Between April and August, he also participated on "The Mystery World Tour", which included 10 European festival appearances and 3-hour long shows in South America, Japan, Russia and Europe.[46][47]
On 2 August 2014, Michael performed with Avantasia at the Wacken Open Air festival once again.[48]
In 2016, Kiske participated in the Avantasia album Ghostlights, singing on the songs "Ghostlights", "Unchain The Light" and on the bonus track "Wake Up To The Moon".[49] Between March and August of the same year, he was part of the biggest Avantasia tour, entitled "Ghostlights World Tour", which consisted of more than 40 concerts in Europe, North America, South America, Canada, Japan, Russia and Scandinavia.[50][51]
During 2019, Michael took part in the Avantasia album Moonglow, singing on the song "Requiem For A Dream".[52]
In 2005, Kiske took part in the Place Vendome project, on Frontiers Records.[54] According to Kiske "Place Vendome was always a project. It started with Serafino asking me if I'd like to do a record where I'm singing AOR music"[2] Place Vendome consisted of Dennis Ward (bass and production), Kosta Zafiriou (drums) and Uwe Reitenauer (guitars) from the German band Pink Cream 69, Gunther Werno (keyboards) from the band Vanden Plas and Kiske on vocals. The project's debut album, Place Vendome, was a blend of melodic hard rock and AOR (comparable to the sound of bands such as Foreigner or Journey) and the majority of the songwriting was provided by Dennis Ward.[55] As Kiske recalls "That was supposed to be a bit of a tribute to the 80's AOR and the songs turned out really good, especially with my voice as I don't have a typical AOR voice…I was surprised at how they turned out and how well they worked."[56]
In 2009, the Place Vendome project released its second album entitled Streets of Fire.[57][58] A video was filmed for the song "My Guardian Angel", marking Michael's visual return since 1996. The songwriting for the second album was provided by musicians Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear), Torsti Spoof (Leverage), Ronny Milianowicz (Saint Deamon) and Robert Sall (Work of Art).[59]
In late 2009, Kiske collaborated with female vocalist Amanda Somerville in a duet project, put together by Frontiers Records. The project was named Kiske/Somerville and it marked the contribution of musicians Mat Sinner, Magnus Karlsson, Sander Gommans, Martin Schmidt and Jimmy Kresic.[63] The self-titled debut album was released on 24 September 2010. Two videos were filmed for the songs "Silence" and "If I Had A Wish", enabling most of the participants to actually meet in person.[64]
The second Kiske/Somerville album entitled City of Heroes was released on 17 April 2015.[65] Mat Sinner, Magnus Karlsson and Veronika Lukesova handled the instrumentation, while Jacob Hansen and Sinner were in charge of the production. Two music videos were filmed for the songs "City Of Heroes" and "Walk On Water".[66]
Unisonic (2009–2017)
Kai Hansen (left) and Michael Kiske (right) live with Unisonic in 2016
Kiske stated in a 2012 interview: "We started off with the basic idea in about 2009, when Kosta and Dennis were contacting me about this idea of doing a real band. And very quickly, Dennis added Mandy Meyer to make it a four-piece band. We did two festivals in 2010, and we started to write songs and stuff…We wrote a lot of stuff, but somehow it needed this extra creative force of Kai Hansen to complete the thing, which happened c.2010. We were on stage together with Avantasia, and toured several places in the world…We just thought that there was a great thing going on. We've always had a good relationship even after the Helloween years anyway, but we never thought of doing something together like this until we were on stage together with Avantasia. After that it didn't take long for me to suggest him to join Unisonic. From that day on, I think everything fell into place very quickly."[72]
The band embarked on a summer festival tour in July 2014, performing at Masters Of Rock, Leyendas del Rock, Moscow Metal Meeting, Bang Your Head, Skogsrojet and Rock Pod Kamenom. A Japanese and European tour together with Edguy followed, while the band's final show was at the Knock Out Festival in December 2014.[86]
On 5 August 2016, Unisonic performed a show at Wacken Open Air Festival, which was recorded and released under the title Live in Wacken on 21 July 2017.[87]
Collaborations and guest appearances
Michael Kiske live with Rock Meets Classic in 2015
In 1995, Kiske participated as a guest on Gamma Ray's (Kai Hansen's band, formed after his departure from Helloween in late 1988) Land of the Free album, singing lead vocals on the song "Time To Break Free" and additional vocals on the title track.[1]
During 2002, Michael sang the song "Key to the Universe", which was featured on Timo Tolkki's (guitarist of the band Stratovarius) solo album Hymn to Life.[1]
In 2003, Kiske took part in the metal opera Days of Rising Doom by Aina, in the role of the Narrator, singing on the songs "Revelations", "Silver Maiden", "Serendipity" and "Restoration".[1][88] During the same year he also sang on the duet "Heroes" (together with Jørn Lande), featured on Masterplan's self-titled debut album.[1]
In 2004, Michael sang on the duet "The Encounter", together with the female vocalist of the band Thalion on their debut album Another Sun.[1]
During 2005, Kiske was a guest on the heavy metal album Execution by the band Tribuzy, singing on the duet "Absolution".[89] Following this participation Kiske also sang as a guest on the song "Judas at the Opera", featured on Edguy's SuperheroesEP.[1]
In 2007, Michael sang on the duet "Breathe in Water", together with the female vocalist of the band Indigo Dying on their self-titled debut album.[90][91]
During 2008, Timo Tolkki departed from Stratovarius and formed the band Revolution Renaissance. The band's debut album, New Era, was recorded by session musicians and Kiske on the role of the main singer, performing vocals for the tracks "I Did It My Way", "Angel", "Keep The Flame Alive", "Last Night on Earth" and "Revolution Renaissance".[92][93]
In 2009, he was a guest on Trick or Treat's album Tin Soldiers, singing all vocals on the song "Hello Moon" and additional lead vocals on the duet "Tears Against Your Smile".[94][95]
During 2010, he recorded guest vocals for the song "All You Need To Know", featured on Gamma Ray's To The Metal album.[96]
In 2011, Kiske appeared as a special guest in Gamma Ray's concert in Pratteln (Switzerland). The full show was released in both CD and DVD under the name Skeletons & Majesties Live in 2012.[97] Michael sings on the songs "Time To Break Free", "A While in Dreamland" and "Future World".[98]
In 2012, Michael sang the song "The Ethereal Dream (Reprise)", featured on the album 34613 by the project Tomorrow's Outlook.[99]
In 2014, he sang on the duet "Black And White Forever", featured on Starchild's self-titled debut album.[103]
During 2015, Kiske sang as a guest on the title track of the Wolfpakk album Rise of the Animal.[104] In August of the same year he sang as a special guest with Rock Meets Classic (a project featuring Mat Sinner and the Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague) performing at the Rock of Ages Festival and at Wacken Open Air Festival.[105][106] On 19 September, he performed at the Rock In Rio festival with the band Noturnall.[107]
In 2016, he participated as a guest vocalist on the Hansen & Friends XXX: 30 Years of Metal album and on the project's performance at Wacken Open Air Festival.[108] The live performance was recorded and released on both CD and DVD under the title Hansen & Friends Thank You Wacken, on 23 June 2017.[109] During the same year he also sang on the duet "Halleluja" with Swedish singer Aino Löwenmark, featured on her album "Human". Kiske returned to work on this recording with ex. SupaRed-members, the guitar player Sandro Giampietro and drummer Jürgen Spiegel.[110]
During 2018, Kiske sang on the duets "Angel Of Light" and "King Thorgan's Hymn", featured on the album Legend of Valley Doom part 2 by Marius Danielsen.[111]
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. It is said that the band is one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. By the time Hansen left Helloween in 1989 to form Gamma Ray, the band had evolved into a five-piece, with Michael Kiske taking over as lead vocalist. Schwichtenberg and Kiske both parted ways with Helloween in 1993; Schwichtenberg died two years later as the result of suicide. Between then and 2016, there had been numerous line-up changes, leaving Grosskopf and Weikath as the only remaining original members. As a septet, their current lineup includes four-fifths of the Keeper of the Seven Keys: Parts I and II-era (1987–1988) lineup, featuring three additional members, vocalist Andi Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Daniel Löble.
Avantasia is a German supergroup metal opera project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist of the band Edguy. It has been characterized as a rock opera, as it features the contributions of various vocalists and musicians and it consists of concept albums. The name is a blend of the words Avalon and fantasia ('fantasy') and describes "a world beyond human imagination".
The Metal Opera is the first full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a metal opera. The album is followed by the sequel The Metal Opera Part II. Both were written over the course of a year, starting in the last quarter of 1998, and both were produced from October 1999 to June 2000, with the works being interrupted for some weeks so Sammet could produce The Savage Poetry with his other band Edguy.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
Tobias Sammet is a German musician, songwriter, and music producer. He is the singer and primary songwriter of the power metal band Edguy, and the founder of the metal opera project Avantasia.
Superheroes is an EP by the German power metal band Edguy, released in 2005. On this EP, the band has moved away from the sound they had developed on their previous album Hellfire Club. The songs on "Superheroes" are much less akin to the band's native style of power metal, but tends towards the direction of hard rock.
Andreas "Andi" Deris is a German singer, best known as one of the three co-lead vocalists of the power metal band Helloween, and co-founder and former lead singer of the metal band Pink Cream 69.
Markus Grosskopf is a German musician best known as the bass guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the power metal band Helloween.
The Metal Opera Pt. II is the second full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a metal opera. The songs carry on the story begun in The Metal Opera, with the same characters. Both albums were written over the course of a year, starting in the last quarter of 1998, and both were produced from October 1999 to June 2000, with the works being interrupted for some weeks so Sammet could produce The Savage Poetry with his other band Edguy.
Amanda Somerville is an American singer-songwriter and vocal coach who resides in Wolfsburg, Germany. She is known primarily for her work with many European symphonic metal bands.
"I Want Out" is a song by German power metal band Helloween from the album Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II, that was released as a single in 1988.
The Scarecrow is the third full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German metal opera project Avantasia, released on 25 January 2008 through Nuclear Blast Records. It is the first part of "The Wicked Trilogy" and it is followed by The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. Sammet explained in a 2016 interview that he managed to have Alice Cooper after drummer Eric Singer asked him. Cooper requested to have a listen to the song first and then accepted to be part of it.
Place Vendome is a German melodic hard rock / AOR project, founded in 2004 at the direction of Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino.
Kiske/Somerville is a melodic heavy metal duet project, put together in late 2009 by Frontiers Records. The project features German singer Michael Kiske collaborating with American singer Amanda Somerville.
Unisonic was a German hard rock/power metal supergroup, founded on 10 November 2009 by Helloween singer Michael Kiske alongside Dennis Ward and Kosta Zafiriou from Pink Cream 69 and Mandy Meyer, formerly in Asia and Gotthard. In 2011 the band was joined by Gamma Ray leader and Helloween co-founder, Kai Hansen.
The Mystery of Time is the sixth full-length album by Tobias Sammet's german metal opera project Avantasia. The album was released on 26 April 2013. This is the first Avantasia release to feature the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. The cover artwork was painted by Rodney Matthews.
Kosta Zafiriou is a Swiss musician and music manager, one of the owners of Bottom Row Promotion company, which currently manages the bands Helloween, Axxis, Gotthard and Krokus. A former hard rock drummer, Zafiriou is known as one of the founding members of bands Pink Cream 69, Place Vendome and Unisonic.
Ghostlights is the seventh full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German metal opera project Avantasia. It was released on 29 January 2016. The opening track and first single "Mystery of a Blood Red Rose" was a candidate for the German representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, along with nine other songs. The Digibook edition of the album included a bonus track and a bonus CD entitled Avantasia Live, which featured songs recorded mainly during Avantasia's 2014 performance at Wacken Open Air Festival.
United Alive in Madrid is the fourth live album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 2019. The recordings took place during the band's Pumpkins United World Tour (2017–2018), with former members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen joining Helloween's line-up. This would be the first live album to feature both Kiske and Hansen since 1989's Live in the U.K.. The main concert was recorded on 9 December 2017 at the WiZink Centre in Madrid, Spain and the bonus tracks in Chile, Brazil, Czech Republic and Germany.
Helloween is the sixteenth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released on 18 June 2021. The album is the first released with the "Pumpkins United" line-up, which marked the return of original member Kai Hansen on guitars and vocals and Michael Kiske on vocals in 2016, in addition to the five-member line-up active since 2005.
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