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Hans Jürgen "Hansi" Kürsch (born 10 August 1966) is a German singer, best known as a member of the
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
band
Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been part of the band ...
. One of the founders of the band, he has been its lead vocalist since its creation in 1984, and also acted as the band's bass guitarist until 1996. He is also the former lead vocalist of Demons & Wizards, a side-project with
Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band currently composed of only Jon Schaffer, formed in Tampa, Florida, and based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist, ma ...
guitarist Jon Schaffer until his departure from the project in 2021. Additionally, he has worked prominently as a guest with other artists, including Angra,
Edguy Edguy is a German power metal band formed in 1992 in Fulda by students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch, and Dirk Sauer. Initially named after their math teacher, the band faced early rejections from record labels but persevered, relea ...
, Iced Earth, and Therion; he notably played characters in the
Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk music, f ...
albums ''
01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. The title is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter ''Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...
'' and ''
The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
''.


Early life

Kürsch was born on 10 August 1966 in Lank-Latum, near
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, to a working-class family in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
. He is the youngest of four siblings. Kürsch was raised in the suburb of Lank-Latum, near a castle called Burg Linn. Having spent his childhood playing football near the castle nurtured his love and passion both for football, as well as fantasy and fairytales, which later became the main source for his lyrics. By the time he was ten, Kürsch discovered his love for music, specifically Classic Rock bands, such as the Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis or
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
. However, the turning point for him was coming across
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, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...
’s 24 Carat Purple for the first time, which not only started his love for Hard Rock music, but also introduced him to bands like
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
,
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
, and others. He lists
Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
,
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...
, and
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
as his favorite singers, and the ones who influenced him the most.


Personal life

In 1984, while being a Commerce School student, and on the same day Kürsch met his current bandmate and
Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been part of the band ...
cofounder, André Olbrich, he became aware of a female student called Andrea, whom he later married in 1991. Their son, Jonas, was born in 2001. Kürsch still resides in Krefeld together with his wife and son.


History

A signature of Kürsch's songwriting is his practice of
overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio Music track, tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto o ...
his own voice multiple times in complex, overlapping harmonies on his recordings, creating the atmosphere of a huge choir. The track "Chant" on the first Demons & Wizards album is vocal only, in the style of a traditional
Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...
; Kürsch's is the only voice on the song. Kürsch's lyrics revolve around various themes prevalent in the power metal genre, including medieval fantasy,
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
, religious/mythological tales, and legends/stories, both his own and from the literary world. His lyrics in the first Demons & Wizards album tackle even various themes, whereas "Touched by the Crimson King" was based primarily off different fantasy novels. Kürsch had also recorded three albums for his side project with Jon Schaffer of
Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band currently composed of only Jon Schaffer, formed in Tampa, Florida, and based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist, ma ...
, Demons & Wizards until his departure in 2021. Although mostly known for being a clean singer nowadays, Kürsch's early technique made use of a harsher, "screaming" technique. He can be heard using similar, more aggressive, technique while singing guest vocals for
Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...
's cover of "Valhalla".


Discography

Blind Guardian Demons & Wizards * Demons & Wizards – '' Demons & Wizards'' (2000) *Demons & Wizards – '' Touched by the Crimson King'' (2005) *Demons & Wizards – ''III'' (2020)


References


External links


Interview with Hansi at Nocturnal Horde
(16 July 2005)
Blind Guardian websiteDemons & Wizards website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kursch, Hansi 1966 births Living people People from Rhein-Kreis Neuss Blind Guardian members German heavy metal bass guitarists German male bass guitarists German heavy metal singers German male singers English-language singers from Germany Demons & Wizards (band) members