Tokio HoteL

CypRioT_eMo · #1 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 05:13 PM

Tokio Hotel is a German band founded in Magdeburg, Germany in 2001 by guitarist Tom Kaulitz and singer Bill Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The quartet has scored four number one singles and has released two number one albums in their native Germany, selling nearly 3 million CDs and DVDs there.[4]

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 [5] 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 European 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. However, while still struggling for success in most English-speaking countries, the band has released an English language version of Ready, Set, Go! in the UK, and are currently enjoying exposure in Canada and the United States.

Founding
Tokio Hotel was founded by guitarist Tom Kaulitz and singer Bill Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a concert in Magdeburg. [7]Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. [4]After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 (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 city Tokyo, Japan, which they love, and "Hotel", due to their constant touring and sleeping in hotels), and 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. Several DJ's such as Basement Jaxx, Melodik Pinpon, Bob Sinclar and Givichy Universal have remixed Tokio Hotel songs
Schrei
Their first single, "Durch den Monsun" (Through the Monsoon), quickly rose in the charts, appearing on the German official Media Control single charts at #15 on 20 August 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on 26 August 2005; it reached #1 on the Austrian music charts as well. Their second single, "Schrei" (Scream), climbed to the #5 position in the German charts. Their debut album, "Schrei", was released on 19 September 2005; the album later received a platinum certification [8]. These two songs were written by singer Bill Kaulitz together with their group of producers Peter Hoffmann, David Jost, Pat Benzer and Dave Roth. 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. The "Der Letzte Tag"-single also contained a B-side called "Wir Schließen Uns Ein", which was accompanied by a music video as well.

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. The "Zimmer 483" album was released on 28 February 2007, with a deluxe edition of the album, containing a DVD, also becoming available. Their second single from the album, "Spring Nicht" (Don't Jump) was released on 7 April 2007. 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 new stage. A third single from the album "An Deiner Seite (Ich Bin Da)" (By Your Side) was released on the 16th of November. The single also contains a B-side, called "1000 Meere" (1000 Oceans) which was also accompanied by a music video.

Scream
While their German CDs never received official releases outside the German-speaking world, Tokio Hotel's first English album "Scream" was released on the 4 June 2007 in all of Europe. In Germany, the album was released as "Room 483" in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album "Zimmer 483". The album 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, "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 iTunes 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 Singles Chart. A special UK edition of "Scream" (including new, unreleased tracks) is scheduled for release in early 2008.

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

Tokio Hotel released their first U.S. single, simply entitled "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contained tracks previously released elsewhere in the world, "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 Much On Demand Daily 10, a countdown of videos as chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 on April 8, 2007. On March 25th, 2008, Scream was released in Canada and the US version of Scream was released on May 6, 2008.

1000 Hotels Tour
The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on 3 March 2008 in Brussels and was scheduled to continue to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia with an expected finish on the 9 April 2008.

On March 14th, during the concert in Marseille, France, 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.

On March 16th the band canceled a gig in Lisbon, Portugal minutes before the concert was supposed to commence. The rest of the 1000 Hotels Tour and the North American Tour were cancelled not long after following an announcement by the band's manager in Bild 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 Oceans 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 is unable to speak until April 9th (10 days), and will take 3 weeks to heal completely. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. His voice is slightly changed, but he has made a great recovery. Tokio Hotel is scheduled to start performing again in May, 2008
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