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 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 1977 to 1995, during which time he played on eight studio albums. Aside from playing drums, Rarebell wrote or co-wrote several songs for the group such as "Another Piece of Meat", "Falling in Love" and "Passion Rules the Game". He composed the lyrics for some of the band's most well known songs such as "

Rock You Like a Hurricane "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions, considered their signature song. The song was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, '' Love at First Sting'' (1984). It was written by Klaus Meine, ...

", "Make It Real", "Dynamite", "Blackout", "Arizona", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Don't Stop at the Top", and "Tease Me Please Me". Herman Rarebell received his education in the subjects drums and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken. Rarebell played drums from 1965 with the band The Mastermen, from 1968 with The Fuggs Blues and RS Rindfleisch, with whom he released one single and performed in the clubs of the US military throughout Germany. In 1972–73 he played on three albums by the

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

band Missus Beastly, with a line-up consisting of three RS Rindfleisch members with a new singer and two additional musicians. The following year he joined the band

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

after the name change to Vineyard. During his time in Scorpions, Rarebell released two solo albums Nip in the Bud (1981) and Herman Ze German (1986).

Setup

Rarebell has been a long-time user of Ludwig drums and Paiste cymbals, which he used for his entire duration with Scorpions, though he would occasionally alter the amount of drums and cymbals he would have on his setup.

Discography

Missus Beastly *1972 – Volksmusik * 1973 – Spinatwachtel *1973 – Weramean · Missus Beastly (split) – Super Rock Made In Germany / Im Garten Des Schweigens Scorpions: *1977 –

Taken By Force ''Taken by Force'' is the fifth studio album by German band Scorpions, released by RCA Records in 1977. This was the first Scorpions album to feature drummer Herman Rarebell and the final studio album to feature guitarist Uli Jon Roth. Roth lef ...

* 1978 – Tokyo Tapes * 1979 –

Lovedrive ''Lovedrive'' is the sixth studio album by German band Scorpions, released in 1979. Considered by some critics to be the pinnacle of their career, ''Lovedrive'' was a major evolution of the band's sound, exhibiting their "classic style" that wo ...

* 1980 –

Animal Magnetism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...

* 1982 – Blackout * 1984 –

Love At First Sting ''Love at First Sting'' is the ninth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released on 27 March 1984 on Harvest/ EMI in Europe and Mercury in the US. The album contains "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Still Loving You", and " Big C ...

* 1985 –

World Wide Live ''World Wide Live'' is a live album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1985. The original audio recording was produced by Dieter Dierks. A VHS was released at the same time with footage of Scorpions' world tour. The live album was or ...

* 1988 –

Savage Amusement ''Savage Amusement'' is the tenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1988. It peaked at No. 5 in the US and was certified platinum by the RIAA on June 20, 1988. It was the last Scorpions record to be produced by D ...

* 1990 – Crazy World * 1993 – Face The Heat * 1995 – Live Bites Solo: * 1981 – Nip in the Bud * 1986 – Herman Ze German * 1986 – Herman Ze German And Friends (Single) Wipe Out b/w Pancake * 2005 – Drum Legends(Rarebell/York/Antolini) * 2007 – I'm Back (released in Germany, not distributed in the US) * 2008 – My Life as a Scorpion * 2008 – Herman's Collection (Best of solos) * 2010 – Herman Ze German + My life as a Scorpion Box set * 2010 – HZG- "Top of the Rock" (Single) * 2010 – Take It As It Comes (US version of "I'm Back") * 2013 – Acoustic Fever * 2020 – Thomas Tomsen – "No Return To Earth"

References

External links

Official website

HardRadio.com interview with Herman Rarebell

MetalExpressRadio.com interview with Herman Rarebell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rarebell, Herman 1949 births Living people Scorpions (band) members German heavy metal drummers German rock drummers Male drummers German male musicians Michael Schenker Group members Glam metal musicians