Francis Buchholz (born 19 February 1954) is a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of German

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

from 1973 until 1992. Since leaving Scorpions he has been a member of

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker ...

's Temple Of Rock.

Biography

Born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, Buchholz discovered rock music at the age of 11. His first public appearance as a bass player was at age 15 while in a high school. From then on he played in different rock, blues and jazz bands in his hometown of Hannover. While a mechanical engineering student at the

University of Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

and taking classes at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...

, Buchholz joined Dawn Road, whose lineup included guitarist

Uli Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Ac ...

. Eventually the musicians from Dawn Road and the Scorpions merged into a new incarnation of the Scorpions in 1973, with Buchholz on bass. Buchholz' first recording with the Scorpions was 1974's ''

Fly to the Rainbow ''Fly to the Rainbow'' is the second studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released on 1 November 1974 in the United States through RCA Records. This was their first release with guitarist Uli Jon Roth and bassist Francis ...

'', and he stayed as a band member for 18 years, recording 12 albums during the band's most commercially successful period. Together they sold over 15 million records in the USA alone and over 100 million records worldwide. For his success with the Scorpions, Buchholz was awarded with over 50 gold and platinum awards for record sales all over the world. He left the band after a disagreement over band management in 1992. His last album with the Scorpions was '' Crazy World'', which also contained the only Scorpions track Buchholz contributed to writing, "Kicks After Six". Buchholz reunited with Uli Roth for a tour of Europe and the United States in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 Buchholz worked with the band Dreamtide as their bassplayer and co-producer, the album "Dream And Deliver" was released in Japan (King Records), Europe (AOR Heaven) and worldwide on iTunes. In 2012, Buchholz toured with former Scorpions lead guitarist

for the European dates of his "Temple of Rock - Lovedrive Reunion Tour" alongside former Scorpions drummer

Herman Rarebell Herman Rarebell (born 18 November 1949 as Hermann Josef Erbel) is a German musician, best known as the drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions from 1977 to 1995, during which time he played on eight studio albums. Aside from playing drums, Rare ...

, with ex-

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

vocalist Doogie White and MSG's Wayne Findley on guitars and keys. The "Temple of Rock – Lovedrive Reunion" tour went through Europe and Far East. A DVD, Blu-ray and Double-CD "Temple Of Rock - Live in Europe" was released for Christmas 2012. Temple Of Rock's next album "Bridge The Gap" featured Buchholz on Bass, it was released in November 2013. A European tour in 2013 was followed by concerts in Mexico and South America and in 2014 they toured Japan and Europe. Their new album "Spirit On A Mission was released in 2015 and the band toured USA, Japan and Europe. Early in 2016 they play more shows in UK and Scandinavia.

Records

With the Scorpions

* 1974: ''Fly to the Rainbow'' * 1975: ''In Trance'' * 1976: ''Virgin Killer'' * 1977: ''Taken by Force'' * 1978: ''Tokyo Tapes'' (live) * 1979: ''Lovedrive'' * 1980: ''Animal Magnetism'' * 1982: ''Blackout'' * 1984: ''Love at First Sting'' * 1985: ''World Wide Live'' (live) * 1988: ''Savage Amusement'' * 1990: ''Crazy World''

With Dreamtide

* 2008: ''Dream and Deliver''

With Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock

* 2012: ''Live in Europe'' (DVD, Bonus-DVD, Blu-Ray und Doppel-CD) * 2013: ''Bridge the Gap'' * 2015: ''Spirit on a Mission'' * 2016: ''On a Mission - Live in Madrid'' (DVD, Doppel-Blu-Ray und Doppel-CD)

With Phantom 5

* 2016: ''Phantom 5'' (CD)

Personal life

In 1978, Buchholz founded a PA and

stage lighting Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts.

rental company, Rocksound, in Germany. The company began as a way to distribute special exponential loudspeaker cabinets Buchholz had developed, but also to provide employment for the Scorpions'

roadies Roadie refers to support personnel who travel with a band on tour. Roadie or roadies may also refer to: * ''Roadie'' (1980 film), a 1980 film starring Meat Loaf * ''Roadie'' (2011 film), a 2011 American comedy film * ''Roadies'' (TV series), an A ...

when not on tour. The company thrived in the 1980s and 1990s. Buchholz lives in Hannover, Germany, with his wife Hella, they have a son and twin daughters. In 1996, Buchholz authored the book ''Bass Magic'', he also worked as a record producer and

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

References

External links

Francis Buchholz, The Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchholz, Francis 1954 births Living people German heavy metal bass guitarists Male bass guitarists German rock bass guitarists Musicians from Hanover German record producers Scorpions (band) members Businesspeople from Hanover Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover alumni Michael Schenker Group members German male guitarists Glam metal musicians