Starting Point
Twins Bill Kaulitz (born September 1, 1989) and Tom Kaulitz (born ten minutes before his brother) had been performing since the age of 9. After putting on a show in their hometown of Magdeburg in 2001, Bill and Tom met Gustav Schäfer (born September 8, 1988) and Georg Listing (born March 31, 1987). Their similar taste in music led to the creation of the band 'Devilish'. In 2003, the group was approached by music producer Peter Hoffmann and were soon after signed with Universal Music Domestic Division in Hamburg. They were then known as 'Tokio Hotel' (Significance: 'Tokio' for the lively and engaging city of Tokyo and 'Hotel' for the band's constant touring around the country). Assisted by professionals, Bill co-wrote the majority of the songs on their album, Schrei (Scream).
Career
The music video of their debut single "Durch den Monsun" (Through the Monsoon) has been playing on German television since July of 2005. The band quickly gained a multitude of fans after its release. The single appeared on the German music charts at #15 on August 20th and reached #1 on August 26th. It also climbed to #1 on the Austrian music charts. Second video was "Schrei"...This video also climbed to #1 all over Europe.They released their album Schrei in September of 2005. In early 2006, their third music video "Rette Mich" (Save Me) was released. This version of the song was different from the original version on their first album because of Bill's now propubescent voice and some instrumental differences. "Rette Mich" made it to the #1 spot as well. The re-release of their first album was initiated by Bill's voice change and was released with three new songs ("Schwarz (Black), "Beichte" (Confession) and "Thema nr. 1" (Topic #1) in March 2006 titled Schrei: So Laut Du Kannst (Schrei - Noch Lauter Edition) (Scream: As Loud As You Can (Scream - Even Louder Edition)). In September 2006 they released their fourth and last single from their album Schrei: "Der Letzte Tag" (The Last Day). This song also made it into the number one position. The video for "Der Letzte Tag" also includes a bonus track called "Wir Schliessen Uns Ein" (We Lock Ourselves Away).
Popularity, controversy, and criticism
Tokio Hotel is largely popular among teenage girls, of whom most are drawn by the sex appeal of the lead singer of the band, Bill Kaulitz and his twin brother Tom. There has been controversy about Bill's androgynous look (long unconventional dyed hairstyle, black nail polish, unconventional wardrobe), in spite of the fact that the young Kaulitz has made it clear that he is simply an artist expressing himself through his music as well as through his choice of clothing. Furthermore, the band members have been criticized for being 'too young and immature' and for having their music composed and arranged by their production company for them. It is also said that Bill Kaulitz copied his hair style from Japanese singer Miyavi and band style from HIM.
Currently
According to recent interviews with the band, they are in the process of producing their second album (the enhanced re-release of "Schrei") in English to release it on the international market and are currently working on their English skills. Four of the songs that were already recorded in English have been illegally broadcasted on the internet recently- namely "Through the Monsoon", "Scream", "Black" , and "Rescue Me". An Universal Music spokesman has made sure of the fact, that the English-language versions are NOT official (yet) and that legal actions will be taken against those involved in the distribution of the songs. Tokio Hotel has been performing the song "Instant Karma" (originally by John Lennon) at the "50 JAHRE BRAVO" show (Translated, "50 Years of Bravo"- Bravo is the biggest German-language youth magazine) on October 21, 2006. The band is currently working on a second album that is due to be released in 2007. Tokio Hotel just won the award for Best-selling German Act at the WMAs in London but were neither given the award on stage nor did they get to perform since there appeared to be technical difficulties and the show was ended early. After Tokio Hotel have finished their promotion tour through France and Russia, they are heading back to the recording studio in Hamburg to continue working on the new album.
Awards
06.10.2005 - "Best Newcomer" and "Super Comet" awards at the annual Comet Awards.
24.11.2005 - "Eins Live Krone" award
01.12.2005 - "Bambi" award
12.03.2006 - "Best Newcomer" award at Echo Awards.
25.03.2006 - "Bester Newcomer" award at Steiger-Award
06.05.2006 - "Goldener Otto" award at Bravo Otto show.
22.05.2006 - "Music" award at Bild Osgar
15.11.2006 - "Best-Selling German Act" award at the WMAs 2006 in London
Discography
Single: 'Durch den Monsun' - Released on 15.08.2006
Album: 'Schrei' - Released on 19.09.2005
Single: 'Schrei' - Released on 25.11.2005
DVD: 'Leb die Sekunde' - 02.12.2005
Single: 'Rette mich' - Released on 10.03.2006
Album: 'Schrei so laut Du kannst' - 24.03.2006
Schrei Live DVD - Released on 07.04.2006
Single: 'Der Letzte Tag' CD1 and CD2 - Released on 28.08.2006
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