Coordinates: 52°03′23″N 2°42′58″W / 52.0565°N 2.7160°W / 52.0565; -2.7160

Hereford
Hereford Cathedral and Wye Bridge
Hereford  Hereford shown within Herefordshire
Population	55,800 [1]
OS grid reference	SO515405
- London	135.7m
Civil parish	Hereford
Unitary authority	Herefordshire
Ceremonial county	Herefordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HEREFORD
Postcode district	HR1, HR2, HR3, HR4
Dialling code	01432
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Hereford and South Herefordshire
List of places: UK • England • Herefordshire

Hereford ⁱ/ˈhɛrɨfərd/ is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of the border with Wales, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Worcester, and 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Gloucester. With a population of 55,800 people,^[2] it is the largest settlement in the county.

The name "Hereford" is said to come from the Anglo Saxon "here", an army or formation of soldiers, and the "ford", a place for crossing a river. If this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning "old road", and probably refers to the Roman Road and Roman settlement at nearby Stretton Sugwas.

An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as "Hereford in Wales".^[3] Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000.^[4][5]

It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include: cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals and cattle, including the famous Hereford breed.

History[link]

Hereford Cathedral, from Church Street

Hereford became the seat of Putta, Bishop of Hereford, some time between AD 676 and 688, after which the settlement continued to grow due to its proximity to the border between Mercia and Wales, becoming the Saxon capital of West Mercia by the beginning of the 8th century.^[6]

Hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh came to a head with the Battle of Hereford in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English.^[7] Hereford was again targeted by the Welsh during their conflict with the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor in AD 1056 when, supported by Viking allies, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd and Powys, marched on the town and put it to the torch before returning home in triumph.^[8]

The present Hereford Cathedral dates from the 12th century. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton.

The city gave its name to two suburbs of Paris, France: Maisons-Alfort (population 54,600) and Alfortville (population 36,232), due to a manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, in the middle of the 13th century.

Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a secure stronghold for English kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green.

After the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor (grandfather of the future Henry VII of England) was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution. Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owen's son Jasper.

The Old House, High Town. This timber-framed Jacobean building, built in 1621, is now a museum.

During the civil war the city changed hands several times. On 30 September 1642 Parliamentarians led by Sir Robert Harley and Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford occupied the city without opposition. In December they withdrew to Gloucester because of the presence in the area of a Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was again occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller but it was in 1645 that the city saw most action. On 31 July 1645 a Scottish army of 14,000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met stiff resistance from its garrison and inhabitants. They withdrew on 1 September when they received news that a force led by King Charles was approaching. The city was finally taken for Parliament on 18 December 1645 by Colonel Birch and Colonel Morgan. King Charles showed his gratitude to the city of Hereford on 16 September 1645 by augmenting the city's coat of arms with the three lions of Richard I of England, ten Scottish Saltires signifying the ten defeated Scottish regiments, a very rare lion crest on top of the coat of arms signifying "defender of the faith" and the even rarer gold-barred peer's helm, found only on the arms of one other municipal authority: those of the City of London.^[9]

Nell Gwynne, actress and mistress of King Charles II, is said to have been born in Hereford in 1650 (although other towns and cities, notably Oxford, also claim her as their own); Gwynn Street is named after her. Another famous actor born in Hereford is David Garrick (1717–1779).

The Bishop's Palace next to the Cathedral was built in 1204 and continually used to the present day.^[10][11] Hereford Cathedral School is also one of the oldest schools in England.

Governance[link]

The main local government body covering Hereford is Herefordshire Council. Hereford has a "City Council" but this is actually a parish council with city status, and has only limited powers.

Historically Hereford has been the county town of Herefordshire. In 1974 Herefordshire was merged with Worcestershire to become part of the county of Hereford and Worcester, and Hereford became a district of the new county. Hereford had formed a historic borough and was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.^[12] On 1 April 1998 the County of Hereford and Worcester was abolished, and Herefordshire and Worcestershire were re-established as separate counties, although with slightly altered borders.

However the new Herefordshire was a unitary authority without any districts, and so Hereford lost its district status (although, confusingly, the authority's full legal name is the County of Herefordshire District Council). Charter Trustees were appointed to preserve mayoral traditions until a civil parish council could be set up, which happened in 2000. Hereford is one of only seven civil parishes in England which have city status.

The current member of the House of Commons for Hereford and South Herefordshire is Jesse Norman.

Climate[link]

As with all of the UK, Hereford experiences a maritime climate, with limited seasonal temperature ranges, and generally moderate rainfall throughout the year. The nearest Met Office weather station for which 30-year averages are available is Preston Wynne weather station, about 5 miles (8 km) north east of the city centre. Since 2001 a weather station at Credenhill, under 4 miles (6 km) to the west, has provided data.

Since 2001, extremes at Hereford Credenhill have ranged from 33.6 °C (92.5 °F)^[13] during July 2006, to as low as −15.8 °C (3.6 °F) during December 2010^[14]

Transport[link]

[ v t e ] Railways in Hereford
Legend Welsh Marches Line (S&HR) Cotswold Line (OW&WR) HH&BR Hereford Barrs Court Hereford Barton River Wye Rotherwas Junction Welsh Marches Line (NA&HR) HR&GR

Roads[link]

There have been plans for many years for a north–south bypass^[16] and currently the plan is for a nine-mile (14 km) dual carriageway; however, HM Government as yet has refused to grant permission or supply funds. Until then the A49 Trunk Road, A465, and A438 continue to run through the city centre.

Rail[link]

Hereford is served by a 4-platform railway station on the Welsh Marches Line which opened in 1854. There was also another station in Hereford which is now closed, this was Hereford Barton. Services regularly connect to Worcester, Birmingham, London, Manchester and settlements in south Wales.

Air[link]

There is no airport in or near Hereford. The nearest are at Gloucester, Birmingham and Cardiff.

Military associations[link]

RAF Hereford was a non-flying station of the Royal Air Force located nearby to Hereford. It was the home of a wide variety of training schools from 1940 until it closed for RAF training in 1999.

The city is the home of the British Special Air Service SAS.

Economy[link]

High Town, Hereford - Pedestrianised shopping area

The main public service employers in Hereford include:

• The Herefordshire Council
• NHS Herefordshire

In 2005 Hereford was granted Fairtrade City status.^[17]

Major employers in the city include:

• Bulmers - Cider and alcoholic beverages producer. Brands include Woodpecker Cider, Strongbow and Bulmers Cider^[18]
• Special Metals Wiggin Ltd - Manufacturers of nickel alloys^[19]
• Cargill Meats Europe (formerly Sun Valley) - Manufacturers and suppliers of food products for retailers and foodservice operators^[20]
• Painter Brothers - Manufacturers of galvanized steel towers including The Skylon^[21]

Other major companies based in Herefordshire include:

• Spinning Dog Brewery - Brewers of traditional beers in Hereford City
• Wye Valley Brewery - Producers of such beers as Butty Bach and Hereford Pale Ale (HPA) and other real ales.
• Weston's Cider - Award-winning cider and perry producer based just outside Hereford
• M and M Direct - Major sportswear and fashion retailer based just north of Hereford

Herefordshire is a centre for cider production as it supports many acres of orchards, so many breweries and associated organisations exist here, along with other heavy and light industries. Within the city, many are based at the Rotherwas Industrial Estate.

Regeneration[link]

Hereford City has, for much of the 20th Century remained structurally stagnant with no major investment. Since the council became independent from Worcester in 1998, much has changed in that regard.

Many of the schools in Hereford have been rebuilt and improved,^[22] so exam results have improved even in the disadvantaged areas of the city. The Herefordshire College of Technology has also been rebuilt to a 21st century standard.^[23]

Hereford benefitted from the PFI reconstruction schemes for NHS hospitals, with the former County Hospital site having £60 million spent on a brand new, one-site hospital to replace the former 3 hospitals: the General, the Eye Hospital, and the County Hospital. The new Hereford County Hospital was the single largest investment in Herefordshire at that point.

Current and future projects[link]

A major regeneration project is planned in Hereford city centre, formerly known as the Edgar Street Grid, it is now managed by Hereford Futures.^[24] This covers an area of around 100 acres (0.40 km²) just north of the old city walls. Work is expected to start in late 2011,^[25] and should take around 15 years to complete the whole project. The regeneration includes the rebuilding of the canal basin at the end of the disused Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal. The £80 million phase 1 will include a supermarket, multiplex cinema, shops, restaurants, and other facilities.^[26]

The Butter Market is due for refurbishment within the next 2 years.^[27]

A proposed bypass has been drawn to circulate the city, which suffers from rush hour traffic, with potential routes either to the east or west of the city. Both routes would connect with the Rotherwas Access Road which was recently completed, connecting the Rotherwas Industrial Estate to the A49. Rotherwas itself has recently been awarded an Enterprise Zone status by the government which is expected to boost the economy and bring in thousands of new jobs.^[28]

Hereford is due to receive half of the 20,600 new homes expected to be built in the county by 2026 as part of the Regional Spatial Strategy.^[29]

Sport[link]

Hereford is home of Hereford United Football Club, best known for beating Newcastle in the FA Cup in January 1972, when they were still a non-league side and Newcastle were in the top division of English football. They had a spell in the Football League from 1972 to 1997 reaching the second tier of English football in 1976, and were relegated to non-League status in 1997 before returning to beat Halifax Town A.F.C. 3–2 in the Nationwide Conference play-off final in 2005-06 to book a return to the Football League. They were again promoted, this time automatically, during the 2007-08 season, projecting them to this level of football for the first time since the late 1970s. As part of the regeneration of Hereford City Centre, the football club are renovating their ground.^[30]

Football within the county is administered by the Herefordshire Football Association^[31]

Hereford Rugby Club is also a popular local team. The club has just announced a major £6 million move to a new home.^[32]

The city is also home to Hereford Racecourse, a traditional National Hunt course to the north of the city centre which hosts around twenty meetings a year. Within the racecourse is a municipal Golf course owned by HALO Leisure, who plan major improvements.^[33] Many other golf courses surround the City at Belmont, Burghill and Brockington.

Public leisure[link]

Hereford's public leisure facilities are managed by a not-for-profit trust called HALO Leisure, which runs the Hereford Leisure Centre (that includes huge sports halls, gymnasium, squash courts, and an outdoor athletics facility), and the Hereford Leisure Pool (which includes a gymnasium, full size swimming pool, leisure pool, diving pool, and learners pool).

Clubs and societies[link]

The Hereford Rowing Club (along with the Kayak Club) uses the River Wye; it is a popular club with a strong junior group. The stretch of river is also used for other water sports. The Wye is the third largest river in Britain.

Hereford has a thriving nine pin skittle league, formed on 24 October 1902, and today consisting of five divisions.^[34]

Hereford has other well attended set of clubs and societies including the Liberal Club, Railway Club, Farmers Club, Welsh Club, Military Club, and the Whitecross Squash & Lawn Tennis Club.

Education[link]

University[link]

Herefordshire is one of only three English counties not to have a university. However, before 1977 Hereford was home to Hereford College of Education, a higher education institution which offered teacher training qualifications.^[35]

Colleges[link]

Hereford is home to five colleges, including:

• Hereford College of Arts - a publicly funded art school located on Folly Lane, with a Higher Education centre on Whitecross Road, and a Media Centre on Bath Street. The University of Gloucestershire and universities in Wales co-operate to provide degree qualifications.

• Herefordshire College of Technology or HCT - the only main higher education facility in the county, and the largest in terms of property ownership. In late 2005 HCT secured £28.4 million from the Learning and Skills Council to fund a new Learning Village, which would secure Further Education for the long term in a county that has no university. Herefordshire Council announced preliminary work would begin in early 2006,^[36] though it was not until late November that the first phase began.^[37]

The National School of Blacksmithing is the oldest established Blacksmithing college in the UK, also the largest facility for training smiths in Europe. This is also part of HCT.^[38]

• Hereford Sixth Form College - The Sixth Form college for the county.

• The Royal National College for the Blind - One of the top colleges in Europe for blind and visually impaired students, and one of only two in Britain. The college occupies the former Hereford College of Education campus.

• Holme Lacy College - An agricultural college that was part of the Pershore Group of Colleges (now Warwickshire College), but currently belongs to Herefordshire College of Technology (HCT).^[39][40]

Schools[link]

Hereford's many Secondary Schools include:

• The Steiner Academy Hereford - Which is the first Rudolf Steiner school in England to become an Academy. It is a fast developing and ever changing school, as unique as they come.^[41][42]

• Aylestone Business and Enterprise College- A co-educational comprehensive school for pupils aged between 11 and 16, created in 1976 by merging two former grammar schools, the Hereford High School for Boys and the Hereford High School for Girls. Specializes in Business and Enterprise.^[43]

• The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School - A co-educational voluntary aided comprehensive school for pupils aged between 11 and 16, formed in 1973 from two former church secondary schools, the Bluecoat foundation, dating back to 1710 and the Bishop’s School, a secondary modern school founded in 1958. It is now a Technology College with a second specialism in Languages.

• The Hereford Academy - A high school for pupils aged between 11 and 16. It was known as Haywood High School in the late seventies until 2006, when it was renamed as Wyebridge Sports College. As of 1, September 2009, It was renamed The 'Hereford Academy'.^[44] It has been, like Whitecross High School, re-classified as a 'Sports College'. The Academy's new building opened in September 2011, and the demolition of the old school site, making way for new playing fields to be laid out, will be completed by Spring 2012.^[45]

• Hereford Cathedral School - A co-educational independent school and sixth form, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The earliest existing records date from 1384 though it is likely that a school was associated with the cathedral from its foundation in the late 7th century. HCS, together with HCJS (see below) educates the choristers for Hereford Cathedral Choir.

• Hereford Cathedral Junior School - A co-educational independent school. Hereford Cathedral Junior School is, with Hereford Cathedral School, part of the ancient Hereford Cathedral Foundation dating back to 676. The Junior School was founded as an independent school in 1898.

• St. Marys RC High School - A Roman Catholic Comprehensive School for boys and girls aged 11–16. The school primarily serves the Catholic Communities of Herefordshire and is situated in a very attractive rural location close to the River Lugg, a few miles to the east of the City of Hereford in the village of Lugwardine.^[46]

• Whitecross High School & Sports College - A specialist Sports College, which moved to a brand new PFI building in June 2006. The college for pupils aged between 11 and 16 aims to use the new facility to provide the best high school education for its pupils in the topic of Sports & Fitness.^[47]

Primary Schools in the city include:

• Broadlands
• Henry Wilson's Quality School
• Holmer
• Lord Scudamore
• Riverside
• St Francis Xavier
• St Martins
• St Thomas Cantilupe
• St Paul's
• Stretton Sugwas
• Trinity

Health and social care[link]

Herefordshire leads the UK in the way it brings health and local government together. In early 2008, Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire became the first local authority and Primary Care Trust to form a new kind of partnership.^[48] A single chief executive leads both organisations and there is also a joint management team and several joined up teams and services, which work as one organisation to plan, purchase, design and deliver care, which reduces duplication and expenditure.

The major hospital in Hereford is the Hereford County Hospital. Ambulance Services are provided by the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The Midlands Air Ambulance charity provides air ambulance services across Herefordshire.

A private national firm operates a hospital in Hereford, and the city is well populated with council-funded, private and charity based nursing, residential and other elderly care homes & facilities.

Society and culture[link]

Agriculture[link]

Farming has played a major part in the history of the county of Herefordshire, and for many years the City of Hereford was the epicentre, playing host to the Cattle Market; a major market site for many years.^[49]

Sadly with the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak the market suffered and trade reduced. Established by Act of Parliament, the market must be provided, and so a new Bill was introduced in 2003^[50] to move the site to the outskirts of the city. The inner city site would then be available for redevelopment, a process that has now begun.

The new Hereford Cattle Market opened its doors in August 2011 on a new site just outside the city^[51] and has already proved so successful that trading and business is up on the previous sites record.^[52]

Music[link]

The annual Three Choirs Festival, originating in the 18th century and one of the oldest music festivals in Europe, is held in Hereford every third year, the other venues being Gloucester and Worcester.

Composer Sir Edward Elgar lived at Plas Gwyn in Hereford between 1904 and 1911, writing some of his most famous works during that time. He is commemorated with a statue on the Cathedral Close. One of his Enigma Variations was inspired by a bulldog named Dan falling into the River Wye at Hereford, and the dog is similarly honoured with a wooden statue beside the river.

Hereford is home to the Hereford Police Male Voice Choir who competed on the BBC TV show "Last Choir Standing",^[53] and the Railway Choir.

A charitable music school is also based in Hereford.^[54]

Art[link]

H.Art, or Herefordshire Art Week, is an annual county-wide exhibition held in September, displaying the work of local artists.^[55] Many places usually closed to the public are opened during this week, such as the Bishop's Palace at the Cathedral.

There are numerous little galleries and places to find artworks in Hereford.

Literature[link]

The troops of the fictional commando squad Rainbow were based at RAF Hereford, as detailed in the novel Rainbow Six.

Media[link]

The local radio stations are Free Radio which broadcasts on 97.6-96.7-102.8 FM, Sunshine Radio on 106.2 FM and 954 kHz Am, and BBC Hereford and Worcester which broadcasts on 94.7FM.

Hereford is briefly mentioned, though mispronounced, in Ronin as a ploy by Sam (Robert De Niro) to expose Spence (Sean Bean) as a liar.

The Hereford Times is the major weekly newspaper, with the 'Hereford Journal' and 'Hereford Admag' also in circulation. The Council produces a regular magazine called "Herefordshire Matters".

Local TV content is currently provided by BBC Midlands Today and ITV Central News. Hereford has been selected as a viable location for a new local TV station by the UK Government.^[56]

Entertainment[link]

The city's main theatre and cultural venue is the Courtyard Centre for the Arts which was opened in 1998, replacing the New Hereford Theatre.

There is also a single screen Odeon cinema in Commercial Road, although the nearest multiplex facility is some distance away in Worcester. This is set to change when the new city centre development is complete, with a new multiplex being built by 2015.

TGS Bowling, home to a Ten Pin Bowling alley and Adventure Golf course is located near the railway station.

There is also a dedicated Skatepark on Holmer Road.

Famous people[link]

The original lineup of The Pretenders, with the exception of lead singer Chrissie Hynde, were from Hereford, as were the rock band Mott the Hoople.

Frank Oz, puppeteer for The Muppets was born in Hereford and lived there for the first five years of his life.^[57]

The actress Beryl Reid and the singer Ellie Goulding were born in in Hereford, as were footballers Aaron Wildig and Connor Wickham.^[58]

Sarah Siddons, John Kemble, Nell Gwynne, and David Garrick, actors and actresses, are all historical figures popularly associated with Hereford. Broadcaster Gilbert Harding was born there when his father was master of the local workhouse.

Major-General Stringer Lawrence, first commander-in-chief of British troops in India, under whose command Robert Clive served, was born in Hereford.

Tourism and attractions[link]

The Old House, Hereford is an historic black and white house in the centre of High Town in Hereford City. It is now a museum about life in the Jacobean era of the 1600s when it was built.

The Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a Victorian Gothic building and opened in 1874, presents artefacts, fine art, and decorative art associated with the local area.

The Hereford Cider Museum is located in the City, with a shop and a fully interactive guide to how to produce the drink.

Hereford Cathedral dates from 1079 and contains the Mappa Mundi, a medieval map of the world dating from the 13th century which was restored in the late 20th century. It also contains the world famous Chained Library.^[59]

Holme Lacy House is now a hotel for a major national chain was built by John Scudamore in the 1500s. It has played host to many famous historical figures in its time.^[60]

Twin towns[link]

Hereford is twinned with Dillenburg, Germany and Vierzon, France.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Hereford (cattle)
• List of Hereford MPs
• Hereford and Worcester
• Hereford Cathedral
• Hereford United F.C.
• Herefordshire
• Railways in Hereford

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hereford

References[link]

External links[link]

• Herefordshire Council
• Where Is Hereford Local information about hereford, UK.
• Hereford Web Pages Social and Historical information about Hereford UK
• Your online guide to Hereford Local information about the city of Hereford
• The Hereford Times Local paid for weekly newspaper for Hereford and surrounding areas
• Hereford City Council
• Hereford Futures
• Herefordshire Housing
• Critique of Hereford in the Telegraph
• Hereford at the Open Directory Project

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010)

Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel, 2010. L-R: Georg Listing, Bill Kaulitz, Tom Kaulitz, and Gustav Schäfer
Background information
Origin	Magdeburg, Germany
Genres	Pop rock,[1][2] alternative rock,[3] emo,[4] glam rock,[5] power pop,[6][7][8][9]
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Universal Music Germany, Cherrytree, Interscope
Website	www.tokiohotel.com
Members
Bill Kaulitz Tom Kaulitz Georg Listing Gustav Schäfer

Tokio Hotel is a rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing.^[10] The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there.^[11] After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, Schrei, as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. Schrei sold more than half a million copies worldwide^[12] 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 France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ). And won MTV's 2012 Musical March Madness.

History[link]

[edit] Formation (2001 - 2004)

Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical 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 Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage.^[13][14] Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts.^[15] 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 spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels.^[13] 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; most of the songs of the first album were written by Hoffmann, Jost and Benzer (including the singles "Scream" and "Rescue me" which were completely written by them), only the single "Unendlichkeit" was written completely by Tokio Hotel themselves. Shortly before release of their first album, Sony terminated their contract. The band is now one of the biggest modern acts from Germany and the biggest in 20 years.

[edit] Schrei (2005 - 2006)

Bill Kaulitz performing in Hessisch-Lichtenau, Germany in 2006.

In 2005, Universal Music Group took Tokio Hotel under contract and developed a marketing plan. 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 August 20, 2005 and eventually reaching #1 on August 26, 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 September 19, 2005, and was certified triple gold by the BVMI in 2006 for selling over 300,000 copies in Germany.^[16] 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.

[edit] Zimmer 483 (2007 - 2008)

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 January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. Zimmer 483 was released in Germany on February 23, 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 April 7. 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 November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.

[edit] Scream (2007 - 2008)

Tokio Hotel's first English language album, Scream, was released on June 4, 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 Scream 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 and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. 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 June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 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 December 11, 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.^[17] 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 March 25 and in the US on May 6. The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems.^[18] 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.^[19][20]

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation.^[21] He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords.^[22] The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated.^[23] Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation.^[24] If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged.^[18][25] Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008^[26] and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.

[edit] North American Tours and Humanoid (2009 - 2010)

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Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards,^[27] where they also won the award for Best New Artist.^[28] They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.^[29]

In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, Humanoid, which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S.^[30][31][32] This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release.^[33][34][35] The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide.^[34][35]

On August 10, it was announced on MTV news that the first German single would be "Automatisch" and its English counterpart, "Automatic", would also be released as a first single in the United States. On August 20, MTV Buzzworthy released a video which previewed "Automatic" and Cherrytree Records announced that the English version of the song would be released in the US on September 22.^[36][37] Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.

On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single.^[38] The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.

On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.

On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.

On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.

Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.

On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the band's first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.

Modeling and commercials[link]

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2010)

On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan.^[39] Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".^[40]

Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.^[41]

On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial.^[42] Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week.^[42]

Best Of Tokio Hotel (2010)[link]

At 13th December in Germany and 14th December internationally Tokio Hotel released their first compilation album named "Best Of". It comes in two languages: english and german. It contains the most popular songs from all the previous albums and two new songs: "Hurricanes and Suns" (was recorded for Humanoid but not included in it) and "Mädchen aus dem All" (was recorded for Schrei but not included in it).There is a deluxe edition too which comes with both german and english versions of album and a bonus DVD with all Tokio Hotel's music videos and "making of" scenes.

[edit] New album and duet with Far East Movement (2011 - present)

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After finishing "Welcome To Humanoid City Tour" Bill and Tom with their manager David Jost moved to Los Angeles and still are living there. They said they are working on the new album, which will be released in the late 2012. Paparazzies caught Bill, Tom and Gustav in a shop in Los Angeles. MTV said the new album will be named "Dark Anthem".^[43]. Bill and Tom released an app named "BTK Twins" for iOS (16 January 2012),^[44] and Android(19 December 2011),^[45] for keeping in touch with their fans. Here Bill and Tom post their photos, videos and text messages, and fans can leave messages for posts. Bill and Tom answer to these comments very often. The app costs 2.99$, and if a user wants to leave comments besides watching only he must pay 0.99$ a month. Tokio Hotel launched a service named "VIP Call".^[46] Fans may pay 4.99 Euros for a month or 3.49 Euros for 3 months and Tokio Hotel call them and leave audio messages. Fans can even ask them questions and Tokio Hotel will answer to them. On 18 May 2012 Far East Movement released an album named "Dirty Bass". In it there is a song named "If I Die Tomorrow" which is a duet with Bill. Far East Movement accepted there will be a music video released for "If I Die Tomorrow" soon. Bill Kaulitz will take part in shootings too.

Band members[link]

• Bill Kaulitz - lead vocals
• Tom Kaulitz - guitar, piano, backing vocals
• Georg Listing - bass, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
• Gustav Schäfer - drums, percussion, backing vocals

Discography[link]