I recently became interested in the band Tokio Hotel. After realinzing how good there are i thought that you guys might want to learn a little more about them too.Tokio Hotel is a highly successful German Pop, Emo, Metal band, formed in 2001 in Magdeburg, Germany. Identical twin brothers, Bill Kaulitz (b. September 1, 1989) and Tom Kaulitz (born 10 minutes before his brother) performed in small shows and talent shows as children. They later met schoolmates, Gustav Schäfer(Drums) and Georg Listing(Bass) and their similar tastes in music led them to create a band called Devilish. They played small shows since 2001 and by 2003, were approached by a music executive, Peter Hoffman. They were signed to the Universal music label in Hamburg, Germany and changed their name to Tokio Hotel (Tokio for the city of Tokyo, and "Hotel" because they toured and slept in hotels a lot). Tokio Hotel's first single "Durch den Monsun" (Through the Monsoon) quickly gained popularity after its release, appearing on the German music charts at #15 on August 20th and reaching #1 on August 26th 2005; it reached #1 on the Austrian music charts as well. Their second single was "Schrei" (Scream), which climbed to #5 of the German charts. They released their debut album Schrei on the 19th September of 2005; lead singer Bill Kaulitz,wrote the majority of the songs. In early 2006, their third single "Rette mich" (Rescue Me) was released, and it reached #1 as well. Their first single from "Zimmer 483" (their second album) called "Übers Ende Der Welt" (About the End of the World) was released January 26th, 2007. It has also reached #1. The "Zimmer 483" album was released on February 23rd, 2007. A deluxe addition of the album is available as well.
The "Zimmer 483" tour was supposed to start in March, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to use a new stage. However, all Tokio Hotel tickets bought for the tour are still valid.
More about the members:
Bill Kaulitz
Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989 in Leipzig, East Germany. He was born ten minutes after his identical 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. 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.
German site dw-world.com suggests that his androgynous look, young age and edgy hairstyle has reached icon status among many teenage girls. In August 2008, Bill Kaulitz was chosen as the most attractive singer on stage by the readers of the Spanish magazine ¡Hola!.
Bill was immortalized in wax at the Madame Tussauds museum in Berlin. His wax statue was unveiled on September 30, 2008. At 19 years old, Bill is now the youngest person to be duplicated by the Madame Tussauds museum in Berlin.
In December 2008, Bill Kaulitz was named "Man of the Year #6" by MTV News.
Tom Kaulitz
Tom 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. He has stated his musical influences to be Aerosmith and German hip-hop such as Samy Deluxe.
Georg Listing
Georg Listing was born on 31 March 1987. His hometown is Halle. He began playing bass when he was thirteen-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, and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.
Gustav Schäfer
Gustav 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 five. His musical influences include Metallica, Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart.
