Steeler was a heavy metal band from the German city of

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 ...

formed in 1981. The band was active between 1981 and 1988. The founding members consisted of Peter Burtz on

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Axel Rudi Pell 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 Micha ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, Tom Eder also on guitar, Volker Krawczak on bass and Jan Yildiral on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. The band was named after "Steeler", a song from Judas Priest album '' British Steel''. The band released two albums with this lineup, one a self-titled album, ''Steeler'', and the other titled ''Rulin' the Earth''. After the first two albums, Krawczak was replaced by Roland Hag; this new lineup released two more albums, ''Strike Back'' and ''Undercover Animal''. After this the band split up. Pell went on to start a successful solo career under his own name, with Krawczak on bass. His solo band is still performing and releasing songs to this day. After the break-up of Steeler, vocalist Peter Burtz became the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of Metal Hammer Germany from 1989 to 1991 before taking on the role of head of A&R at

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925 the British Gramophone Company ...

in 1992. Between 1997 and 1999, Burtz was

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of EMI Germany. He then went into producing radio comedy with parodist Elmar Brandt, earning the Deutsche Comedypreis (German Comedy Prize) in 1999 for their "Die Gerd-Show", named after then

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

. Burtz and Brandt landed various Top 20 hits spoofing the singing Chancellor, most notably 2002's "Steuersong" ("Tax Song"), which sold millions and topped the German

Media Control Charts Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

for 18 weeks. Burtz is now the manager of controversial German TV host and political satirist

Jan Böhmermann Jan Böhmermann () (born 23 February 1981) is a German satirist, journalist, and podcast and television host. He also worked as a writer, producer, radio host, and is best known for his activism through publicity stunts. Early life and educati ...

Past members

* Peter Burtz – Lead vocals (1981–1988) *

– Lead guitar (1981–1988) * Tom Eder – Rhythm guitar (1981–1988) * Volker Krawczak – Bass guitar (1981–1985) * Roland Hag – Bass guitar (1985–1988) * Jan Yildiral – Drums (1981–1988)

Discography

* ''Steeler'' (1984) * ''Rulin' the Earth'' (1985) * '' Strike Back'' (1986) * ''Undercover Animal'' (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steeler German musical groups German heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in West Germany