Udo Dirkschneider

Udo Dirkschneider
Dirkschneider (in center) live with U.D.O., 2004
Background information
Born	April 6, 1952 (1952-04-06) (age 57)
Origin	Wuppertal, Germany
Genres	Heavy metal Thrash metal Speed metal
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1976 – Present
Labels	Nuclear Blast, Epic/Sony, PolyGram
Associated acts	Accept U.D.O. Lordi Aria

Udo Dirkschneider (born April 6, 1952, Wuppertal, Germany) is a German heavy metal singer who was formerly the vocalist in German heavy metal band Accept.

After the demise of Accept in 1987, Dirkschneider formed the band U.D.O.. He consequently paused and restarted his band after reverting to Accept on occasion.

In 1999 Hammerfall recorded a version of Helloween's hit song "I Want Out", with Udo and Kai Hansen making guest appearances. Udo contributed back-up vocals, while Kai and Joacim Cans sang lead. Udo also appeared as a guest singer for Hammerfall on a version of Accept's "Head Over Heels".

Recently, Dirkschneider made a guest appearance on (Eurovision Song Contest winners) Lordi's 2006 album, The Arockalypse. Mr Lordi claims both "Don't Look Back" and "Blitz of Lightning" by U.D.O. as songs that changed his life in a Kerrang! magazine article. He also makes a guest appearance in the music video for the song Shtil' (Штиль) by Russian heavy metal band Aria [1].

Dirkschneider recorded lead vocals with NWOBHM-band Raven on their cover of "Born to Be Wild" on a 1983 single release. The song also appeared as B-side on "Break the Chain" from their album All for One. UDO is also famous for his duet rock ballad with Doro Pesch, "Dancing with an Angel". On Wacken 2008 he performed live with Lordi the song "They Only Come Out at Night".

The character Dark Schneider in the Japanese manga and anime series Bastard!! is named after Dirkschneider.

Udo is well known for his unique voice, short stature, camouflage clad image and short blond hair. Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach pronounced him as having "the most metal name of all time."^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Accept

Studio albums

• Accept (1979)
• I'm a Rebel (1980)
• Breaker (1981)
• Restless and Wild (1982)
• Balls to the Wall (1983)
• Metal Heart (1985)
• Russian Roulette (1986)
• Objection Overruled (1993)
• Death Row (1994)
• Predator (1996)

Live albums

• Kaizoku-Ban (Live, 1985)
• Staying a Life (Live, 1990)
• Live In Japan (Live, 1992)
• All Areas - Worldwide (Live, 1997)
• The Final Chapter (Live, 1998)

EPs

• Rich & Famous (EP, 2002)

U.D.O.

Studio albums

• Animal House (1987)
• Mean Machine (1988)
• Faceless World (1990)
• Timebomb (1991)
• Solid (1997)
• No Limits (1998)
• Holy (1999)
• Man And Machine (2002)
• Thunderball (2004)
• Mission No. X (2005)
• Mastercutor (2007)
• Dominator (2009)

Live albums

• Live From Russia (2001)
• Nailed To Metal - The Missing Tracks (2003)

Compilation albums

• Best Of (1999)
• Metallized (2007)

Singles/EPs

• They Want War (1988)
• Heart Of Gold (1990)
• Faceless World (1990)
• Two Faced Woman (1997)
• Independence Day (1997)
• Lovemachine (1998)
• Dancing With An Angel (2002)
• 24/7 EP (2005)
• The Wrong Side Of Midnight EP (2007)

DVDs

• Nailed To Metal - The Complete History (2003)
• Thundervision (2004)
• Mastercutor Alive (2008)

Duets

In the year 1999 he recorded the Helloween song I Want Out. U.D.O. performed the rock ballad "Dancing with an Angel" with Doro Pesch and the version of Accept's Head Over Heels with Hammerfall . He sang on Wacken 2008 live with Lordi the song They Only Come Out At Night and was guest singer in the Lordi songs Don't Look Back and Blitz of Lightning. He did guest vocals for a version of Aria's song Shtil' released on a compilation of the same title (the original version from album Himera doesn't feature Dirkschneider). He sang the lead vocals by the Raven cover of Born to Be Wild on a 1983.

External links

• Official web site
• HardRadio.com interview with Udo Dirkschneider

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