Till Lindemann

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Till Lindemann

Lindemann in 2010
Background information
Born (1963-01-04) 4 January 1963 (age 49)
Leipzig, Saxony, East Germany
Genres Neue Deutsche Härte, industrial metal, heavy metal
Occupations Musician, Pyrotechnician, Poet
Instruments Vocals, drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, Harmonica
Years active 1983–present
Labels Motor Music, Republic, Slash, Universal Music Group
Associated acts Rammstein, First Arsch, Feeling B

Till Lindemann (born 4 January 1963) is a German musician, actor, and poet. He is the lead vocalist for the German band Rammstein.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Till Lindemann was born in Leipzig, East Germany, but he grew up in the village of Wendisch-Rambow near Schwerin (in East Germany). His father was children's poet Werner Lindemann and his mother, Brigitte "Gitta" Hildegard Lindemann, was a journalist and writer until she retired. Lindemann has one sister who is six years younger. At age 11 he went to a sports school at the Empor Rostock Sport Club, and from 1977 to 1980 attended a boarding school. His parents lived separately for career reasons after 1975.

In 1978 Lindemann was a participant in the European Junior Swimming Championships in Florence finishing seventh in the 1500 m, and was shortlisted to go to 1980 Olympics in Moscow but discontinued the sport soon after because of an injury. According to Lindemann, "I never liked the sport school actually, it was very intense. But as a child you don't object." Lindemann later worked as an apprentice carpenter, a gallery technician, a peat cutter and a basket weaver.

[edit] Career

Till at a Rammstein show during the song "Rammstein" wielding two flamethrower gauntlets

Lindemann started to play drums for First Arsch, who released an album titled Saddle Up, and played one song ("Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend") with a punk band called Feeling B (which was the former band of Rammstein members Paul H. Landers, Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz). In the 1990s, Lindemann began to write lyrics. In 1994, the trio entered and won a contest in Berlin that allowed them to record a four track demo professionally. Lindemann moved to Berlin.

In November 2002 Lindemann's poetry book Messer was published. It consists of 54 poems compiled by Gert Hof, who is author of the book Rammstein and was the band's pyrodesigner for the last seven years.[1]

In July 2010, Lindemann, along with Flake, was interviewed by heavy metal anthropologist Sam Dunn for the VH1 Classic series Metal Evolution, on the topic of shock rock.[2]

[edit] As guest artist

[edit] Personal life

Lindemann's first daughter, Nele, was born in 1985. Lindemann and Nele's mother married after she was born, but they separated and he has raised Nele alone. Lindemann says, "I used to play drums in a punk band and we had our studio in the house where I lived. Seven years I had been a father raising my daughter, but nowadays I'm sharing the upbringing with her mother, because I'm gone for six months of the year with the band." Lindemann has a second daughter, Marie Louise, with Anja Köseling. An interview with Richard Kruspe revealed that Till has at least four children.[citation needed].

[edit] Stage persona

Lindemann has a very powerful on-stage presence and a resonant bass voice. One of his signature mannerisms is to partially squat and pound his fist onto his thigh to the beat of the riff; this move is known to Rammstein fans as the "Till-Hammer". His vocals are distinct, as his pronunciation of Standard German deploys a rolled R.

Another attribute seen is his originality in his performances, such as setting himself on fire in the video for "Rammstein" and his questionably obscene antics in the '98 Family Values Tour when he performed "Bück Dich". Lindemann is also a qualified pyrotechnician; after an accident at the Treptow arena in Berlin on 27 September 1996, where a burning stage prop fell into the audience, Rammstein began employing a professional pyrotechnical crew and Lindemann has learned from and also trained with them. About Lindemann, band mate Christoph Schneider says, "Till gets burned all the time, but he likes the pain".

He has also engaged in other masochistic acts on stage.

[edit] References

[edit] External links