Helloween

Not to be confused with the band Halloween or the holiday.
For the band's 1985 EP, see Helloween (EP). For the band's 2021 album, see Helloween (album).

Helloween
Helloween performing at Wacken Open Air in 2018
Helloween performing at Wacken Open Air in 2018
Background information
OriginHamburg, West Germany
Genres
DiscographyHelloween discography
Years active1984–present
Labels
Members
Past members
Websitehelloween.org

Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool.[2] It is said that the band is one of the most influential European heavy metal bands of the 1980s.[3] Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. By the time Hansen left Helloween in 1989 to form Gamma Ray, the band had evolved into a five-piece, with Michael Kiske taking over as lead vocalist. Schwichtenberg and Kiske both parted ways with Helloween in 1993; Schwichtenberg died two years later as the result of suicide. Between then and 2016, there had been numerous line-up changes, leaving Grosskopf and Weikath as the only remaining original members. As a septet, their current lineup features all of the surviving members of the Keeper of the Seven Keys lineup (Hansen, Weikath, Kiske, Grosskopf), in addition to the remaining members from the Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy-era (Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Daniel Loble).

Since its inception, Helloween has released 16 studio albums, four live albums, three EPs and 30 singles, was honored with 14 gold and six platinum awards and has sold more than eight million records worldwide.[4] Helloween has been referred to as the "fathers of power metal",[5] as well as one of the so-called "big four" of the genre's early German scene, along with Grave Digger, Rage and Running Wild.[6]

  1. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Walls of Jericho". Allmusic. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Metallian – Helloween Biography". metallian. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ^ Phillips, William; Cogan, Brian (2009). Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal Music. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-313-34801-3.
  4. ^ "Helloween: Band History". Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Helloween Family Tree". The Metal. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  6. ^ "The BNR Metal Pages – Helloween". bnrmetal.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.