Udo Dirkschneider (born 6 April 1952) is a German singer who first gained prominence as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Accept. After leaving Accept in 1987, he formed the band U.D.O., with which he also achieved commercial success. Dirkschneider has had a career spanning almost five decades and is associated with the development of German heavy metal. His raspy vocal style and use of prominent choruses contributed to Accept’s sound and recognition within the heavy metal genre.
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Udo Dirkschneider (born 6 April 1952) is a German singer who first gained prominence as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Accept. After leaving Accept in 1987, he formed the band U.D.O., with which he also achieved commercial success. Dirkschneider has had a career spanning almost five decades and is associated with the development of German heavy metal. His raspy vocal style and use of prominent choruses contributed to Accept’s sound and recognition within the heavy metal genre. In November 2011, Dirkschneider’s son Sven performed with U.D.O. during a concert in Germany [1] and became a permanent member of the band in February 2015 [2]. In the same year, the band temporarily performed under the name Dirkschneider and toured with the “Back To The Roots” programme, during which they performed only Accept songs. In 2021, Dirkschneider, together with former Accept members guitarist Stefan Kaufmann and bassist Peter Baltes, released new material under the project name Dirkschneider and the Old Gang, which also included former U.D.O. guitarist Matthias Dieth, drummer Svein Dirkschneider, and singer Manuela Bibert. The video for the song “Where The Angels Fly” exceeded one million views on YouTube. On 22 April 2022, he released the cover album “My Way” to mark his 70th birthday [3]. A recording titled “Live in Bulgaria 2020: Pandemic Survival Show 18 September 2020, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Roman theatre of Philippopolis” was released documenting a live performance [4]. Throughout his career, Dirkschneider has also collaborated with various artists. He contributed vocals to a cover of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”, released in 1983 as the B-side of the single “Break the Chain” on Raven’s album “All for One”. He also recorded a duet with Doro Pesch on the song “Dancing with an Angel”. In 1999, he recorded Helloween’s “I Want Out” and a new version of Accept’s “Head Over Heels” with HammerFall. He appeared as a guest vocalist on the song “Shtil” by the Russian heavy metal band Aria on their 2001 album “Chimera”. In 2006, he performed “They Only Come Out at Night” with Mr. Lordi on Lordi’s album “The Arockalypse” and also performed the song live at Wacken Open Air that year. In 2013, he recorded a duet with Marko Hietala on the song “First to Go – Last to Know” on Lazy Bonez’s debut album “Vol.1”.
