See official 'After-Movie' for SCORPIONS' 60th-anniversary hometown concert
01-08-2025
The official “after-movie” for “Coming Home Live”, the upcoming live album from the SCORPIONS, is now released
Watch the official “after-movie” for “Coming Home Live” below.
Throughout their phenomenal career, the SCORPIONS have played in countless stadiums around the world. To mark their 60th anniversary, the band, for the first time, performed at the stadium in their hometown of Hanover, where it all began. The show took place on July 5, 2025 at the Hanover Stadium Arena/Heinz von Heiden Arena in front of a sold-out crowd of 45,000 cans.
Spinefarm/Vertigo/Universal will release this extraordinary concert, featuring all of the band’s biggest hits and many musical surprises, as the “Coming Home Live” live album on vinyl and CD on November 14.
Pre-orders are now available here.
“Back then, we just wanted to be part of the global rock family — that was our dream,” says SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker, the man who founded the band six decades ago. “Since then, we’ve shared the stage with AEROSMITH and KISS, with METALLICA, AC/DC, and I don’t even remember who else we’re fascinated by — to the Berlin Philharmonic.”
The band has always felt at home when performing at the world’s major arenas. But even more so, over the years, the SCORPIONS have also influenced generations of rock fans, undoubtedly shaping the style and music of younger artists and fellow legends.
“They are the best thing that could have happened to hard rock or heavy metal,” says Jon Bon Jovi about the SCORPIONS, while METALLICA‘s Kirk Hammett confesses, “I still remember being so smitten by the cover of ‘Tokyo Tapes’. From then on, I was the biggest SCORPIONS fan and searched everywhere for all possible information about this band.”
Members of SMASHING PUMPKINS, MÖTLEY CRÜE and GREEN DAY to GUNS N’ ROSES and KISS have all said that the SCORPIONS‘ songs had a huge influence on their music.
The resources of their career years have now become an overflowing treasure trove, bridging the gap from yesterday to tomorrow, from 1965 to the iconic concert in the Hanover Stadium Arena on July 5. The fuel that spurs the SCORPIONS is the adrenaline that comes with performing live.
“It’s the most important element,” says SCORPIONS lead singer Klaus Meine. “And the strongest: The SCORPIONS are a band that, from the very beginning, has seen its place on stage and on some of the biggest stages in the world, in the biggest stadiums and arenas. It was always a challenge to win over fans and play a great show live.”
But SCORPIONS constantly rose to the occasion and surpassed that challenge every time.
SCORPIONS lead guitarist Matthias Jabs says, “I don’t like to think about the past. I prefer to think about what we’re doing now or will do. And that’s why, for me, the stadium concert in Hanover is the most important thing right now.”
On September 26, SCORPIONS will release “From The First Sting”, a collection showcasing the unforgettable anthems and iconic moments from their illustrious career. “From The First Sting” will be available on a deluxe 2LP and 2CD bookpack and 2CD format for European and rest-of-the-world fans, as well as 2LP vinyl and 1CD format for fans in the Americas.
During their career, the SCORPIONS viewed their music as a bridge between cultures. They performed in the former Soviet Union, China, and Southeast Asia, thereby fostering international understanding. Commercially, the band are also one of the best-selling hard rock and heavy metal bands of all time — with over 120 million album sales to their name.
“From The First Sting” is a sonic journey through the band’s timeless hits, from “Rock You Like A Hurricane” to “Wind Of Change”, showcasing SCORPIONS‘ evolution while honouring the spirit of their classic sound.
“From The First Sting” features two previously unreleased tracks, “This Is My Song” and “Still Loving You”, the latter of which features British violinist Vanessa Mae. The physical for European and rest-of-the-world fans comes housed in a carefully crafted 2LP colored vinyl and 2CD 40-page deluxe edition bookpack, comprehensively illustrating the enduring influence of the pioneering masters of their genre.
SCORPIONS‘ latest album, “Rock Believer”, came out in 2022. The LP was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.
SCORPIONS originally intended to record the album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.
SCORPIONS‘ latest album marked their first release since 2017’s “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, which was an anthology of new and classic material.
SCORPIONS‘ previous full-length collection of new recordings was “Return To Forever”, partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the ’80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS‘ longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.
Dominic West (“The Crown”), Alexander Dreymon (“The Last Kingdom”), Ludwig Trepte (“Generation War”), Ed Speleers (“You”), David Kross (“The Reader”) and Luke Brandon Field (“Interview With The Vampire”, “Jojo Rabbit”) have been cast in lead roles in the highly anticipated feature film “Wind Of Change”, which recently started production at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in London.
Directed by Alex Ranarivelo and produced by ESX Entertainment for FOX Entertainment Studios in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, “Wind Of Change” is a music biopic chronicling the incredible journey of the legendary rock group the SCORPIONS, with the longest-running and most successful line-up of the band including guitarist Rudolf Schenker (Dreymon), Klaus Meine (Trepte), Matthias Jabs (Speleers) and drummer Herman Rarebell (Field). It tells the story of a band united by their passion for music, who sought to inspire change in the world through their powerful sound and meaningful lyrics. At the heart of the film is their iconic anthem “Wind Of Change”, which became the soundtrack to the end of the Cold War, symbolizing hope, peace and unity. Through their music, with hits ranging from “Rock You Like A Hurricane” to “Still Loving You”, the SCORPIONS helped bridge the divide between East and West, leaving an indelible mark on history and proving the transformative power of art. West is set to play Doc McGhee, the SCORPIONS famous music manager and Kross will star as Andrej, the band’s imprisoned friend on the other side of the Berlin wall.
“It’s been an unbelievable journey developing this film and bringing it to life feels surreal” says Ali Afshar, founder and president of ESX Entertainment. “Not only did the SCORPIONS‘ music help me get through tremendous difficulties as an Iranian immigrant in America in the early ’80s, but their message of love, peace and rock ‘n’ roll seems more relevant today than ever. This cast is an amazing ensemble of truly great talent. I can’t thank FOX Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment enough for their support and especially the band — Rudolf, Klaus and Matthias — for believing in us and trusting us to tell their life story.”
The SCORPIONS have built a remarkable legacy as one of the most enduring rock bands of the past fifty years. With 110 million albums sold worldwide, they remain one of Germany’s most successful musical exports. Their breakout hits like “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Wind of Change” continue to resonate, the latter surpassing one billion streams across platforms and remaining a cultural touchstone. Even today, their music regularly appears on rock radio and streaming playlists, and they continue to tour globally. Their staying power has earned them a lasting place in rock history.
“Wind Of Change” is produced by ESX Entertainment‘s Ali Afshar, Christina Moore and Daniel Aspromonte for FOX Entertainment Studios in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film is written by Mark Andrews and directed by Alex Ranarivelo. FOX Entertainment Global retains worldwide distribution rights excluding U.S. and global transactional rights, which Warner Bros. Discovery Global Content Sales will manage.
ESX Entertainment is a prolific production company housed on the Warner Bros. lot that has released over two dozen films since 2017. Their gems have been released in theaters, HBO MAX, Netflix and Amazon, with numerous titles becoming number one hits on these platforms.
In an interview with Talking The Talk With Don, earlier this year, former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell, who wrote the lyrics for some of the group’s most classic songs, spoke about a possible reunion with his longtime bandmates. He said: “The last drummer they had was James Kottak. He passed away. I’m very sad about this because he was a good guy. And then I wrote an e-mail to them. I said, ‘Why don’t we do something together again?’ And you know what? I didn’t even get an answer. After 20 years being with those fuckers, not even an answer. I said, ‘Okay, fuck you. Fine.’ Because I can do my own thing — no problem. They can’t. Because the chemistry we had was unique. And if you fuck that up, it’s gonna be hard to replace. And the people out there, the fans, they’re not stupid. They can hear it immediately. They wrote me so many e-mails: ‘What happened?’ I don’t wanna explain all the time. Everybody can do in life what they want. That’s why we have a free will. And so I respect this.
“For me, the band has been over since 1996,” Herman explained. “There was nothing which they released after I left which knocked me out, where I said, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’ Even the last album, Rudolf (Schenker, SCORPIONS guitarist) told me, ‘It’s gonna be like the ‘Blackout’ album.’ I said, ‘It has nothing to do with ‘Blackout’. You should have got Dieter Dierks, (SCORPIONS‘ longtime) producer, back with the band and me writing some lyrics for you. And then we’d have a great album. But otherwise, what is this? Why you do this?’ No answer.”
Asked at which point he felt SCORPIONS were starting to “lose the plot” with their musical direction, Herman said: “Really after (the ballad) ‘Wind Of Change’ (from the 1990 ‘Crazy World’ album), you could see the direction. Klaus (Meine, SCORPIONS singer) obviously was all for it to go in this direction, but in my heart, I’m still a hard rock guy. So for me, I wanted to rock more, not go in ballad land. For me, there was nothing to do anymore from the creativity point. So, I said to myself, ‘Well, you have to do something else.’ And that’s exactly what I did.
“When I look back on it, there’s nothing to regret,” Rarebell added. “Look at the band now. As (former SCORPIONS guitarist) Michael Schenker says in every interview, ‘What have they done after Herman left?’ There’s no more hits. The fans write me many e-mails: ‘Why don’t you do something that you did before on (1980’s) ‘Animal Magnetism’, (1982’s) ‘Blackout’, (1979’s) ‘Lovedrive’ and this kind of albums?, which were pure rock albums. And this is where my heart is, and that’s what I wanted to do.”
In January, now SCORPIONS drummer Mikkey DEE, who was previously a member of MOTÖRHEAD for 23 years, revealed that he was recovering after spending most of the holiday season battling a “very serious blood infection (Sepsis).”
In a post on social media, Dee said he spent three weeks in a hospital in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, during which he underwent “several operations.” He thanked his doctors and nurses for their “excellent care” and said he was back “home fighting this bastard bacteria” and that his “numbers are all going in the right direction.” Dee added he had a lot of “recovery and rehab” ahead and was aiming to be “back on the drum stool” for SCORPIONS‘ upcoming residency.
Dee offered more details about his health setback in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, saying the medical emergency began with a sprained foot that quickly swelled and became infected.
“It was surgery right away, the first of three,” Dee said. “They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I’d be playing drums with [late MOTÖRHEAD frontman] Lemmy in heaven. I can say that.”
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