He is very tall, he is a certified "pyromaniac", his lyrics are very controversial and he has one of the most successful German bands of all time !! Till Lindemann was born on January 4, 1963.
(Photo: Jens Koch)
= He was born in Leipzig to a journalist mother and a poet father.
= His parents divorced when he was young and he moved in with his father but since his father was an alcoholic their relationship was unhealthy and Lindemann's adolescence was difficult.
= He was a high school professional swimmer, ranked in the top ten in the 1,500m and 400m categories, and was even scheduled to participate in the 1980 Moscow Olympics but soon abandoned the sport.
= In 1986 he formed his first band "First Arsch", together with bassist Jörg Mielke as Lindemann was on drums. A punk rock band that performed all over East Germany and released one album in 1992 called "Saddle Up".
= In 1992, Lindemann traveled to the United States with two friends, guitarist Richard Kruspe and bassist Oliver "Ollie" Riedel. Richard, who was heavily influenced by American music, knew he wanted to form a band but did not want to make English music.
= The two who added drummer Christoph "Doom" Schneider, started creating new music. They did not really succeed in writing the lyrics and asked their friend Lindemann to join their new band.
= They gave themselves the name "Rammstein". The origin of the name is not unequivocal and is divided into two meanings, one is after the aviation disaster called the Ramstein air show disaster that occurred in West Germany in 1988 during the Flugtag '88 event in which three Italian pilots and 67 spectators were killed. The other M in the name of the band was written by mistake...
Two, it is named after a "Gate Stop", "ramming stone" which is called in German Rammsteine and served as a stopper for large and old gates.
(Photo: Rammstein Instagram)
= The new quartet participated in a Junior Bands Competition in Berlin in 1994 and won. The win gave it a record deal with Motor Music from Berlin. They added keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz and another guitarist named Paul Landers and began work on their debut album.
= In 1995 the band released their debut album called "Herzeleid" (Heartache). To promote the album they went on a tour in Europe which brought them great exposure mainly thanks to their performance on stage.
= The band is the one created a genre called Neue Deutsche Härte which in English translation - "New German Hardness". The name was given to Rammstein by the music media after the release of the album which combines elements of groove metal / alternative metal with techno and electro-industrial.
= In 1996 they got a significant boost to their exposure in the US when Trent Reznor from "Nine Inch Nails" embedded two of their songs, "Heirate mich" and "Rammstein" in the soundtrack of David Lynch's film called "Lost Highway".
= In 1997, the second album was released "Sehnsucht" (Desire) which was also released in the US by the label Slash Records. To promote the album, the band embarked on a major tour in Europe and even participated a year later in the famous Family Values Tour in the US with Korn, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, and more.
= In 2001 came out the band's third album called "Mutter" (Moher) from which, came out 6 singles including "Sonne", "Links 2 3 4", "Mutter and" Feuer frei! ".
= The band continued their affair with Hollywood when it appeared in the opening scene of the movie "XXX" in which it performed the song "Feuer frei!".
= In 2002, Lindemann released a book of songs called "Messer" which includes 54 songs. In 2013 he released another book of songs called "In Stillen Nächten".
= In 2004 came out the fourth album "Reise, Reise" (Rise, Rise). The band's first album released exclusively under the American label Universal Music worldwide (including Germany). The album continued the band's success and took over the top of the charts worldwide and even made it the most successful German band of all time, the singles "Mein Teil", "Amerika", "Ohne dich" and "Keine Lust" came out of the album.
= A year later a fifth album was released called "Rosenrot" (Rose-Red) from which came the singles "Benzin", "Rosenrot", "Mann Gegen Mann" and "Te Quiero Puta!".
= In 2009 the fifth album "Liebe ist für alle da" (Love is There for Everyone) was released. After the release of the album, the band's tour increased significantly and it became the main headliner at the "Rock AM Ring" festival that took place in 2010 in addition to other major festivals.
= In 2013, Lindemann co-founded with the Swedish multi-instrumentalist Peter Tägtgren the duo "Lindemann". They released two albums "Skills in Pills" in 2015 and "F&M" in 2019.
= After 10 years, in 2019 came out the band's sixth album without the name of the band Rammstein on it. Despite such long absences the album conquered the top of the charts in Europe and became a best-selling album in Germany. From the album came the singles "Deutschland", "Radio" and "Ausländer".
= After the album's release, the band was supposed to go on a huge world tour, but all the plans for the tour were shelved instantly due to the coronavirus. Since they had a lot of time when they were closed at home (like many other artists), the band members worked on the next album, although it was not planned. In April 2022 the band released their eighth album "Zeit" (Time). This album also topped the charts in Europe and USA and was a great success!!
= Lindemann is the main lyricist of the band and his lyrics have a huge weight on the band's character, musical style, and success. Classical German poets very much influence him and he writes mainly on controversial topics and those that society tries to suppress such as: sadomasochism, pedophilia, cannibalism, pyromania, sexual violence, and more.
= Lindemann is a certified "pyromaniac" !! The band holds the reputation of being the best performer in the rock world and for good reason. They use pyrotechnics, effects, scenery, and costumes that look like they were taken from a scene of an apocalyptic Hollywood movie with a budget of tens of millions of dollars. Lindemann's favorite effect is fire, in their performances they make massive use of fire.
After an incident in 1996 at a performance in Berlin, in which the scenery crashed and caused many injuries among the audience, especially burns. They decided to use qualified operators, and professional stage designers, and Lindemann decided to specialize in fire and received a Fireman certification. He also has quite a few burns on his head, hands, and ears.
(Photo: Universal/G.Karp)
= Nothing stops him from achieving the creative effect he aspires to achieve. For the video clip for the song "Ich tu dir weh" Lindemann wanted a light to come out of his mouth. He was not willing to settle for computer effects or other solutions and he underwent surgery that passes through his cheek an electrical wire connected to a bulb inside his mouth.
= Some say that Lindemann is unable to look at the audience during performances, this is one of the reasons why he likes to use pyrotechnics a lot. In moments when there is no "drama" on stage, he tends to focus on the soundman station that is usually located in the center of the audience.
= He has a special movement while performing that even got its own name "Till Hammer". In it, he bends his knees, bang on his thighs with a hammer movements, and moves his head from side to side.
= In January 2022 Lindemann performed in Israel, as is customary in Lindemann's performances there were unique surprises for the fans, like throwing cakes and even fish !! But the biggest surprise of the show was the participation of the Israeli drummer Shaked Furman. A day before the flight to Israel, Lindemann's drummer was positive for Corona and did not board the flight. Shaked was chosen to replace him and learned the entire show setlist from start to finish in just three days.
= In November 2023 Lidemann issued his debut solo album "Zunge" (tongue). While Lindemann wrote the album's lyrics, the music were written and produced by Sky van Hoff, Daniel Karelly, Olsen Involtini, Lois Cass and Clemens Wijers, musicians which he worked with in the past.
While the album was finished and in the hands of Universal Music, both Lindemann and the label agreed to suspend their collaboration for the album's release. As a result, the album was self-released by Lindemann.
Listen to Lindemann's latest solo album on: Spotify, Apple Music