Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist.

Career

Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Michael and

Mike Terrana Mike Terrana (born January 21, 1960) is an American hard rock and heavy metal drummer. His first professional work was in 1984 with the MCA band Hanover Fist from Toronto, Canada, after which he recorded and toured with other bands, playing m ...

, and singers Charlie Huhn,

Johnny Gioeli Johnny Gioeli ( ; born October 5, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and composer, known as the vocalist of the hard rock band Crush 40. He is also the original lead singer of the band Hardline and a member of German guitarist Axel Rudi Pe ...

Hardline In politics, hardline (or hard-line) is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...

Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and (briefly) the lead vocalist for Journey in 2006–2007. Soto also ...

, and

Rob Rock Robert Rock (born June 29, 1959) is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released ...

. Gioeli remains the longest surviving vocalist of the band, having joined the group since 1998 on the album ''Oceans of Time'', Gioeli's first musical appearance since the 1992 Hardline album ''

Double Eclipse ''Double Eclipse'' is the debut studio album released by the American hard rock band Hardline (band), Hardline in 1992. The first single released from the album was "Takin' Me Down", written by Johnny and Joey Gioeli with Neal Schon. "Takin' Me ...

''. Pell often says his music is about a Knight in shining armour going on various adventures. Each album continues one new quest after the other, and songs are told as separate stories. Pell's main influence in guitar work has been

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

from

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

SPV Records SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributor ...

released a live DVD on 25 February 2008, titled ''Live over Europe'', which includes the full performance from the

Rock Hard Festival Rock Hard Festival is a heavy metal festival organized and sponsored by the '' Rock Hard'' magazine. First established in Lichtenfels, Bavaria, Germany, in 1990 on an irregular basis, mostly for magazine anniversaries, it is held annually in Gels ...

in 2007, and comes with a bonus disc which includes live footage from Pell's own archive. In 2012, a new Axel Rudi Pell live concert CD/DVD

Live on Fire ''Live On Fire'' is the third live album by the German guitar-player Axel Rudi Pell. Track listing CD Version: Disc 1 (Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany (October 18, 2012)) # "The Guillotine Suite (Intro)" (from '' Circle of the Oath'') # "Ghost ...

was released. In 2013, 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 ...

drummer

Bobby Rondinelli Robert Rondinelli (born July 27, 1955) is a rock drummer best known for his work with the hard rock/ heavy metal bands Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath, The Lizards, The Handful, and Rondinelli. In July 2013, Rondinelli was ...

joined the band, replacing

after his initial departure in 2013.

wanted to pursue other projects, such as becoming a member of the supergroup The Ferrymen, featuring Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero on vocals. Axel celebrated his 25th anniversary as a musician in 2014, headlining the Bang Your Head festival in Balignen

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 11 July 2014. It featured one of the original line up's singers: Jeff Scott Soto. Special guests also included Joerg Michael,

Ronnie Atkins Ronnie Atkins (born Paul Christensen on 16 November 1964) is a Danish singer, best known as the co-founder, lead vocalist and primary songwriter for heavy metal band Pretty Maids. Atkins co-founded Pretty Maids in Horsens Horsens () is a city ...

, John Lawton, ex-Rainbow singer

Graham Bonnett Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri.P ...

, Doogie White, keyboardist

Tony Carey Anthony Lawrence Carey (born October 16, 1953, Watsonville, California) is an American-born, European-based musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. One of his earliest musical experiences was as a keyboardist for Rainbow. After his ...

and drummer

Vinny Appice Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice. Career Appice ...

. The show consisted of 3 acts: a short Steeler reunion and brief Axel Rudi Pell original line up reunion with

, a full modern Axel Rudi Pell show with vocalist

and current band members, and the last act featuring various Deep Purple and Rainbow covers with a full ensemble. In 2019, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary, releasing a double live album called ''XXX – 30th Anniversary Live''. The songs were recorded on various dates of the Knights Call 2018 tour. The group's Facebook page stated at the time that the band did not know they were being recorded but when they heard the audio they were amazed and wanted to release it to celebrate the group's 30th Anniversary. It was released in June 2019 on CD and LP. On 5 February 2020, they announced their latest album on their Facebook page, titled ''Sign of the Times,'' due for release on 24 April 2020. In March 2020, the band announced a delay of the release of the new record, due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and was released on 8 May 2020 instead. A tour in support of the new album was also postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then later delayed again until 2022. In late 2020, Pell announced his newest album ''Diamonds Unlocked II'', which was released on 30 July 2021. It is another covers album similar to ''

Diamonds Unlocked ''Diamonds Unlocked'' is the twelfth album by German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell. It is a cover album released in September/October 2007. The album consists of 10 cover tracks and 1 self-written introduction track. Axel Rudi Pell attempted to make co ...

'' from 2007. Pell is well known for his extensive touring, mostly around Germany and his home town in

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

. He rarely tours globally, but has performed a few one-off shows in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

over the recent years. However, there has always been high demand to bring him to other countries. They are also famous for attending many music festivals such as being regulars at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

since the late 1990s. Most recently they announced a new album of original music, called ''Lost XXIII'', which is due for release on 15 April 2022.

Band members

Axel Rudi Pell
in the Encyclopaedia Metallum

; Current * Axel Rudi Pell — guitar (1989–present) *

— lead vocals (1998–present) *Ferdy Doernberg — keyboards (1997–present) *Volker Krawczak — bass guitar (1989–present) *

— drums (2013–present) ; Past ; Vocals *

Charlie Huhn Charles Huhn (born January 11, 1951) is an American rock singer and guitarist. He got his start playing with Vic Amato, Andy Dennen and Al Lesert in the band Cirrus, in and around Grand Rapids, Michigan, playing many gigs in West Michigan befor ...

(1989) *

(1991) *

(1992–97) ; Bass * Jörg Deisinger (1989) *Thomas Smuszynski (1989) ; Drums *Jörg Michael (1989–98) *

(1998–2013) ; Keyboards *Georg Hahn (1989) *Rüdiger König (1989) *Kai Raglewski (1991–92) *Julie Greaux (1993–96) * Christian Wolff (1997) ; Timeline

Discography

With Steeler

*'' Steeler'' (1984) *'' Rulin' the Earth'' (1985) *'' Strike Back'' (1986) *''

Undercover Animal Steeler was a heavy metal band from the German city of Bochum formed in 1981. The band was active between 1981 and 1988. The founding members consisted of Peter Burtz on vocals, Axel Rudi Pell on guitar, Tom Eder also on guitar, Volker Krawc ...

'' (1988)

Solo

Albums

*''Wild Obsession'' (1989) *''Nasty Reputation'' (1991) *''Eternal Prisoner'' (1992) *''Between the Walls'' (1994) *''Black Moon Pyramid'' (1996) *''Magic'' (1997) *''Oceans of Time'' (1998) *''The Masquerade Ball'' (2000) *''

Shadow Zone A seismic shadow zone is an area of the Earth's surface where seismographs cannot detect direct P waves and/or S waves from an earthquake. This is due to liquid layers or structures within the Earth's surface. The most recognized shadow zone is ...

'' (2002) *''Kings and Queens'' (2004) *'' Mystica'' (2006) *''

'' (2007) (cover album) *'' Tales of the Crown'' (2008) *'' The Crest'' (2010) *''Circle of the Oath'' (2012) *''Into the Storm'' (2014) *''Game of Sins'' (2016) *''Knights Call'' (2018) *''Sign of the Times'' (2020) *''Diamonds Unlocked II'' (2021) (cover album) *''Lost XXIII'' (2022)

Compilations

*''The Ballads'' (1993) *''The Ballads II'' (1999) *''The Wizard's Chosen Few'' (2000) *''The Ballads III'' (2004) *'' The Best of Axel Rudi Pell: Anniversary Edition'' (2009) *''The Ballads IV'' (2011) *''The Ballads V'' (2017)

Live

*''Made in Germany'' (1995) *''Knights Live'' (2002) *''

'' (2013) *''Magic Moments: 25th Anniversary Special Show'' (2015) *''XXX Anniversary Live'' (2019)

DVDs

*''Knight Treasures (Live and More)'' (2002) *''Live Over Europe'' (2008) *''One Night Live'' (2010) *''

'' (2013) *''Magic Moments 25th Anniversary Special Show'' (2015)

References

External links

* *
Axel Rudi Pell
on Metal Storm
Axel Rudi Pell, Interview: "I Have Never Changed My Style" September 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pell, Axel Rudi German heavy metal guitarists German rock guitarists German male guitarists Lead guitarists 1960 births Living people People from Bochum