Tokio Hotel consists of four members, a vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and a drummer. Bill Kaulitz provides the vocals, his twin Tom the guitar, Georg Listing the bass guitar, and Gustav Schäfer the drums. The four met up in 2001 after Georg and Gustav watched Bill and Tom perform in their hometown of Magdeburg, Germany. Georg and Gustav already knew each other from music lessons, and when they watched the twins perform on stage, the pair realized that they would like to form a band with them. Bill and Tom both have very unique fashion styles and were thought to be the most "unusual looking boys in all of Magdeburg." After meeting up with Bill and Tom, the teenage group of four instantly became a band, going under the name "Devilish"*. They played around their hometown quite agressively until being approached by music executive David Hoffman. They were then signed to Hamburg's Universal Music record label in 2003. That is when the quartet changed from "Devilish" to Tokio Hotel. The name Tokio Hotel comes from the guys' love of the city Tokyo, and the fact that they constantly live in hotels. The only difference is that the word Tokyo was spelled in the German fashion, thus leaving the band name Tokio Hotel. August 15th, 2005 is when Tokio Hotel released "Durch den Monsun" their debut single that instantly topped the German and Austrian pop charts. It's follow up album, "Schrei" was an instant hit in Europe, and created a massive fervor amongst teenagers in Europe. "Schrei" was also recorded twice due to lead singer Bill Kaulitz going through vocal changes during puberty. After "Schrei", Tokio Hotel released a new single called "Übers Ende Der Welt" on January 26th 2007. Their sophomore album, "Zimmer 483" was released February 23rd 2007 and was met by a thundering enthusiasm from not only German fans, but fans from many different countries as well. The tour for the Zimmer 483 album went to 12 European countries, and the album itself reached the top 5 in Germany, as well as top of the charts in other European countries. In 2008 Tokio Hotel released "Scream", their first ever English album that consisted of songs from Schrei and Zimmer 483 mixed together and recorded in English. Scream was an immediate success and the ever-popular Tokio Hotel was becoming an ever more favorable. March 2008 however, still provided a scare for lead singer Bill Kaulitz. It turned out he had a cyst growing on his vocal chords and required surgery. The band had to cancel 16 shows, but was given love and support from fans all over the world. In fact, Bill Kaulitz even said he could "open up a pharmacy" with all the stuff sent to him by fans. Awww :P As of now, Tokio Hotel has just finished enjoying a wee bit of a break and has started recording their latest album, which the title has yet to be released. The album itself is said to be released in either May or June 2009, although nothing is for certain.... But the reaction wanted from the band the album itself has been described in an interview an "Happy Speechlessness...." :P
* Here is a link to download all the Devilish songs in mp3 format. Enjoy :P  |
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