Michael Schøn Poulsen (born 1 April 1975) is a Danish singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of rock band

Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Lars ...

. Prior to Volbeat, Poulsen was the vocalist for the

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Dominus Dominus or domini may refer to: * Dominus (title), a title of sovereignty, clergy and other uses Art, entertainment, and media * Dominus (band), a Danish death metal band * Dominus (DC Comics), an alien character in DC Comics * Dominus (Mar ...

Early life

Poulsen grew up in

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busiest ...

, Denmark, which is about a from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, in a working-class family. He has a twin sister and two older sisters, who are also twins. His parents were big fans of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

, and

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. As a teenager, he got in touch with metal music like

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

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 ...

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Career

At the age of 17, Poulsen moved to Copenhagen and formed his first band

. He stated a major influence during this period was

Chuck Schuldiner Charles Schuldiner (born May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American musician. He founded the death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only consistent member until his death in ...

and his band

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Dominus released four records between 1994 and 2000. The band split up a year later as Poulsen was fed up with

music and the death metal scene. He wrote new songs with a more

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

approach and established Volbeat. After releasing two demos, their debut album ''

The Strength / The Sound / The Songs ''The Strength / The Sound / The Songs'' is the debut studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. Released in 2005, the album initially failed to chart. However, in July 2006 the album entered the Danish Charts, peaking at number 18. The album woul ...

'' reached number 18 in the Danish charts and became the first album of a Danish metal band in 20 years to enter the top 20. On 22 April 2006, Poulsen performed with some of Elvis Presley's studio musicians in Copenhagen. Volbeat's sophomore record '' Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil'' and their third effort ''

Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood ''Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood'' is the third studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat, released on 1 September 2008. It reached the #1 position on both the Danish and Finnish album charts, staying on the former for 35 consecutive weeks, w ...

'' went straight to number 1 in the Danish charts. Volbeat Summerbreeze2007 02

Poulsen later showed his affinity towards

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...

and taking cues from a "new influence" created Volbeat's distinct sound. Poulsen's father, who was a big fan of Volbeat, died on 27 June 2008, shortly before the release of Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood. The song "Light a Way" from the same album was played at his funeral. A week after the death of his father Poulsen tattooed his parents' names, Jørn and Else, on his fingers, with a letter on each finger except the thumb. Later songs like "Fallen" (''

Beyond Hell/Above Heaven ''Beyond Hell/Above Heaven'' is the fourth studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 10 September 2010 on EMI in Denmark, on Vertigo in the rest of Europe, and on Republic in the United States. The title refers to the ...

'') and "Our Loved Ones" ('' Outlaw Gentleman & Shady Ladies'') have been influenced by Poulsen's father. In 2012, Poulsen did a

liner note Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are descen ...

for the

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

reissue of Death's 1990 album ''Spiritual Healing'', which he considers one of his favorite albums. In 2014, Poulsen did a verse in "Highwayman", a

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

song covered by

on the album ''

Plagues of Babylon ''Plagues of Babylon'' is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Iced Earth. Released in January 2014, the album is the group's first studio release with bassist Luke Appleton and the only with drummer Raphael Saini, who was a gue ...

''. Iced Earth's cover of "Highwayman" was done in the format of the same song covered by country

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

The Highwaymen. Poulsen sings the same verse that

sings in the song.

Personal life

Poulsen was married at

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

to his wife Lina in March 2010. They divorced in 2015. After marriage, he accepted the new middle name Schøn. He has a daughter born in 2017 and son born in 2021. Five years later, he was married to his wife Jeanet.

Musical equipment

Poulsen primarily plays

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...

guitars. At first he used a

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

signature model, but later switched to a GT-model with

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan foun ...

pickups, as of 2019 he is seen playing a Gibson Firebird Custom. His amp of choice is a

Marshall JCM800 The JCM800 series (Models 2203, 2204, 2205 and 2210) is a line of guitar amplifiers made by Marshall Amplification. The series was introduced in 1981. Although models 1959 and 1987 had been in production since 1965 and the 2203 and 2204 had been in ...

2210 model. He sometimes plays an

ESP Eclipse ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

and a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. The effects Poulsen uses are an

Ibanez Tube Screamer The Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS808/TS9) is a guitar overdrive pedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues, rock and metal players. The Tube Screamer has been used by many guitarists to create their signa ...

, a noise suppressor, a vintage equalizer and a maximizer pedal.

Discography

with Dominus

* 1994: ''View to the Dim'' * 1996: ''The First Nine'' * 1997: ''Vol. Beat'' * 2000: ''Godfallos''

with Volbeat

* ''

The Strength/The Sound/The Songs ''The Strength / The Sound / The Songs'' is the debut studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. Released in 2005, the album initially failed to chart. However, in July 2006 the album entered the Danish Charts, peaking at number 18. The album would ...

'' (2005) * ''

Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil ''Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil'' is the second studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat, released in 2007. The album debuted at #1 on the Danish Albums chart in 2007, making it Volbeat's first album to do so. The song "Mr. & Mrs. Ness" continue ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies ''Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies'' is the fifth studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 5 April 2013. The title refers to the outlaws and gunslingers of the 19th century. This is the band's first album with guitarist ...

'' (2013) * ''

Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie ''Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie'' is the sixth studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 3 June 2016. It is the first album not to feature Anders Kjølholm who left in November the previous year.Rewind, Replay, Rebound ''Rewind, Replay, Rebound'' is the seventh studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 2 August 2019. This marks the first studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass. Singles Prior to the release of ''Rewind, Replay, ...

'' (2019) * ''

Servant of the Mind ''Servant of the Mind'' is the eighth studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 3 December 2021 through Vertigo, Republic, and Universal Records. The album was preceded by four singles: "Wait a Minute My Girl", "Dagen F� ...

'' (2021)

Awards

In 2006, Poulsen was nominated in the categories Singer of the Year and Composer of the Year at the annual Steppeulven awards. Two years later, he was nominated in the category Best Singer at the

Danish Music Awards The Danish Music Awards (DMA) is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called ''IFPI-prisen'' ("IFPI-Award") until 1991, when it changed its name to ''Dansk Grammy'' ("Danish Grammy"). It was chang ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulsen, Michael 1975 births Living people Danish rock guitarists Danish rock singers Volbeat members English-language singers from Denmark People from Ringsted