Tokio Hotel is a German band founded in Magdeburg, Germany in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. 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. 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 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 Portugal, Spain and Italy.

In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award 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 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 6 November 2008 and the Award for Best Group on 5 November 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award held in Berlin.

Tokio Hotel’s genre definition is a matter of a debate. Frankfurter Rundschau article describes their music as "Straightforward pop-rock with catchy melodies and a well-calculated mix of "stolen" Metallica riffs and romantic ballad elements." "Lyrics laced with "emo" angst, wrapped in a flamboyant pop-rock package", says an ABC reviewer, mentioning that style "range from catchy pop anthems… to appealing rock ballads" from song to song. Tokio Hotel deliver "both yowling rockers and sentimental ballads", follows Rolling Stone.

Other Information

• Origin : Magdeburg, Germany
• Genres : Alternative rock, Pop rock, Pop punk, Emo, Teen pop
• Years active : 2001 – present
• Labels : Universal Music Germany, Cherrytree, Interscope (US)
• Website : www.tokiohotel.com

Members

1. Bill Kaulitz – vocals
2. Tom Kaulitz – guitar
3. Georg Listing – bass
4. Gustav Schäfer – drums

Discography

Studio albums

• 2005 : Schrei
• 2006 : Schrei – so laut du kannst
• 2007 : Zimmer 483
• 2007 : Scream
• 2009 : Humanoid

Live albums

• 2007 : Zimmer 483 – Live In Europe

Tags: Tokio Hotel