Tokio Hotel

Infobox musical artist
Name = Tokio Hotel

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Img_capt = Tokio Hotel live
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Magdeburg, Germany
Years_active = 2001 - present
Genre = Emo [ [http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/tokio_hotel/artist.jhtml MTV Artist View] ] , Glam rock [ [http://musique.ados.fr/interviews/interview-video-tokio-hotel_article2573.html Interview Vidéo de Tokio Hotel : Ich bin ein Glam-Rocker] ] [ [http://www.mtv.it/music/archivio/newsitehome.asp?ID=45626 MTV.it Tokio Hotel] ] [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/20635358/review/20533382/scream Rolling Stone, Tokio Hotel - Scream Review ] ]
Label = Island (Universal) Cherrytree/Interscope (US)
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.tokiohotel.com www.tokiohotel.com]
Current_members = Bill Kaulitz Tom Kaulitz Georg Listing Gustav Schäfer
Past_members =

Tokio Hotel [IPA|ˈtoːkio hoˈtɛl] is a German band founded in Magdeburg, Germany in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer, and bassist Georg Listing. [ cite web
author=Angus, Kat
title=Tokio Hotel Makes All The Girls Scream
publisher=canada.com
url=http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=119cfe69-4046-4018-8525-ac18324e1fc9
accessdate=2008-08-22] The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released two number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there. [ [http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article2005797/Tokio_Hotel_will_den_gesamten_Planeten_erobern.html Prominente: Tokio Hotel will den gesamten Planeten erobern - Nachrichten Vermischtes - WELT ONLINE ] ] After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG terminated, the band released their first German-language album, "Schrei", as Tokio Hotel on Island Records in 2005. "Schrei" sold more than half a million copies worldwide cite web
title=IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2007
publisher=ifpi.org
url=http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat2007.html
accessdate=2008-03-19] and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album "Zimmer 483" and their first English album "Scream" which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, "Zimmer 483", spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, "Scream", spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. Their first live album, "Zimmer 483 - Live In Europe", was released near the end of 2007. On 25 March 2008, "Scream" was released in Canada, and was planned for release on 29 April in the United States, but due to Bill Kaulitz's vocal problems had to be postponed to 6 May.

History

Founding

Tokio Hotel was founded by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Tom and Bill Kaulitz played on the stage. cite web |title=Billboard.com - Tokio Hotel - Biography |publisher=Billboard.com |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=699968 |accessdate=2008-03-19] Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. [http://www.tokiohotel-us.com/bio/ Biography at tokiohotel-us.com] ] After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German language spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels. Soon after Sony BMG took them under contract, Hoffmann hired David Jost and Pat Benzner into the team of creators and authors, and had them give the teens instruction on songwriting and instrument playing; however, shortly before release of their first album, Sony terminated their contract. In 2005, Universal Music Group took Tokio Hotel under contract and developed a marketing plan. The band has now become one of the biggest acts from Germany.

"Schrei"

Their first single, "Durch den Monsun" ("Through the Monsoon"), quickly rose in the charts, appearing on the German official Media Control single chart at #15 on 20 August 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on 26 August 2005; it also reached #1 on the Austrian singles chart. Their second single, "Schrei" ("Scream"), climbed to the #5 position in the German charts. These two songs were written by singer Bill Kaulitz together with their group of producers Peter Hoffmann, David Jost, Pat Benzer and Dave Roth. Their debut album, "Schrei", was released on 19 September 2005, which the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Germany later awarded a platinum certification for selling over 200,000 copies.musikindustrie.de: [http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank.html "Certification"] ] cite web |url=http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin0.html |title=Bundesverband Misikindustrie: Aktuell |publisher=International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Germany |language=German |accessdate=2008-06-06] In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.

"Zimmer 483"

The first single off their second album "Zimmer 483" ("Room 483"), called "Übers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on 26 January 2007 and quickly reached #1. "Zimmer 483" was released on 28 February 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on 7 April. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on the 16 November. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced.

"Scream"

While their German albums never received official releases outside the German-speaking world, Tokio Hotel's first English language album, "Scream", was released on 4 June 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as "Room 483" in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album "Zimmer 483". "Scream" contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums "Schrei" and "Zimmer 483". "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single, with "By Your Side" (the translation of "An deiner Seite") as the third, and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the fourth. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.

Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on 27 August 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on 1 November 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.

Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on 11 December 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York. After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on 25 March and in the US on 6 May. Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of America in August 2008. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, [cite web| last = Harris| first = Chris| title = Miley Cyrus To Face Off Against Tokio Hotel For Best New Artist At VMAs| url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1592481/20080808/cyrus__miley.jhtml| accessdate = 2008-08-10 ] where they also won the award for Best New Artist. [cite web | title= Winners of the 2008 MTV Music Awards | url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iTXYdFYBVqhaKhmh2xUyoiQRmocAD9329JCG0| accessdate = 2008-09-07 ]

1000 Hotels Tour

The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on 3 March 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on 9 April; however, during the concert in Marseille, France on 14 March, Bill started to experience vocal problems. He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation. He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30th to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords. The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated. Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for ten days, and took 3 weeks to heal completely. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. After two weeks of complete silence for Bill and two months of vocal rehabilitation, Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008.fact|date=April 2008

Band members

*Bill Kaulitz lead vocals
Bill Kaulitz was born on 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, East Germany.Deutsche Welle [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3451304,00.html Bill Kaulitz: El fenómeno de Tokio Hotel (Bill Kaulitz: The phenomenon of Tokio Hotel)] . Retrieved September 17, 2008. sp icon] He was born ten minutes after his twin brother, Tom, to Simone Kaulitz, a freelance tailor, and Jörg Kaulitz. His parents divorced when he was seven, and his mother remarried Gordon Trümper, a guitarist from the German rock band Fatun. His stepfather inspired Bill and his brother to begin their music careers, and they began writing song lyrics.Oei, Roland, "Tokio Hotel", pg. 20 & 21, "PowerPlay", Issue 91, September, 2007] cite web
title=Sound Generator - INTERVIEW - Tokio Hotel
publisher=Sound Generator
url=http://www.soundgenerator.com/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17849
accessdate=2008-06-15] Bill has stated that his biggest musical influence is German pop artist Nena. He voiced the role of Arthur in the German version of the film, "Arthur and the Minimoys". [arthur- der film.de [http://www.arthur-derfilm.de/ Arthur und die Minimoys] .Retrieved September 17, 2008. de icon]

Bill Kaulitz' style, charisma and his way of performing on stage are the factors that have caused the success of Tokio Hotel. [NY Times. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/arts/music/20toki.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=tokio%20hotel&st=cse&oref=slogin A Wild Welcome to a German Teen-Pop Band] .Retrieved September 17, 2008.] His androgynous look, young age and edgy hairstyle has reached icon status among many teenage girls. [Deutsche Welle [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3626595,00.html German Pop Sensation Tokio Hotel Wins MTV Video Music Award] . Retrieved September 17, 2008.] In August 2008, Bill Kaulitz was chosen as the most attractive singer on stage by the readers of the spanish magazine "¡Hola!". [Hola.com [http://www.hola.com/musica/2008/08/27/resultado-votacion/ BILL KAULITZ, VOCALISTA DE TOKIO HOTEL, EL CANTANTE MÁS ATRACTIVO SOBRE EL ESCENARIO SEGÚN LOS LECTORES DE HOLA.COM] . Retrieved September 17, 2008. sp icon]

Bill was immortalized in wax at the Madame Tussauds museum in Berlin. His wax statue was unveiled on 30 September 2008. At 19 years old, he is now the youngest person to be duplicated by that museum. [El Pais.com [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/gente/Bill/Kaulitz/tiene/estatua/cera/elpepugen/20080930elpepuage_4/Tes Bill Kaulitz ya tiene su estatua de cera] . Retrieved September 30, 2008. sp icon] [MTV.com [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1596022/20081001/tokio_hotel.jhtml Tokio Hotel's Bill Kaulitz Immortalized -- In Wax -- At Madame Tussauds In Berlin] .Retrieved October 1st, 2008.]

* Tom Kaulitz lead guitarTom Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989 in Leipzig ten minutes before his identical twin brother, Bill. As of September 2007, Tom was using Gibson guitars.Keijzers, Rawathe, "Touren Met Tokio Hotel", pg. 9, "Hitkrant", Issue 38, 22 September 2007] He has stated his musical influences to be Aerosmith and German hip-hop such as Samy Deluxe. Tom stated in an interview on Fuse's "Steven's Untitled Rock Show", that everything has always happened first to him before his twin Bill. Out of the two, he had the first kiss, and he was the first of the two to have sex, stating that Bill is a virgin. It is unknown if Tom was being sarcastic about the later comment.

* Georg Listing bass guitarGeorg Listing was born on 31 March 1987. His hometown is Magdeburg. He began playing bass when he was twelve-years-old, and, as of September 2007, uses a Sandberg bass. He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, [ [http://tokiohotelus.com/blog/?page_id=6 Tokio Hotel US » Georg Listing ] ] and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.

* Gustav Schäfer drumsGustav Schäfer was born on 8 September 1988 in his hometown of Magdeburg, and has an older sister. Gustav has been playing the drums since he was six. cite web
title=Tokio Hotel Interview
publisher=popculturemadness.com
url=http://www.popculturemadness.com/interview/Tokio-Hotel.html
accessdate=2008-06-15] His musical influences include Metallica, Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart.

Discography

;Studio albums
* "Schrei" (2005), Universal
* "Schrei - so laut du kannst" (2006), Universal – Re-recording of "Schrei"
* "Zimmer 483" (2007), Universal
* "Scream" / "Room 483" (2007), Universal ;Live albums
* "Zimmer 483 – Live In Europe" (2007), Universal

;Singles

;2006

References

External links

;Record label:* [http://www.interscope.com/artist/default.aspx/aid/579/ Interscope Records Profile]

;Official sites:* [http://www.tokiohotel.com/ Official site] :* [http://www.youtube.com/tokiohotelchannel Official Youtube site]

;Articles and reviews:* [http://blog.muchmusic.com/archives/2008/05/tokio_hotel_tal.php Interview] from MuchMusic (May 2008):* [http://blog.muchmusic.com/archives/2008/02/tokio_hotel_int.php Interview] from MuchMusic (February 2008):* [http://www.cosmogirl.com/entertainment/celeb-qa/tokio-hotel Interview] from CosmoGIRL! (February/March 2008):* [http://www.soundgenerator.com/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17849 Interview] from Sound Generator (August 2007)

;Other:*Allmusicguide|id=11:jxfoxqrsldfe:* [http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/tokio_hotel/artist.jhtml Tokio Hotel] on MTV