While German metal band Rammstein is on a European tour, singer Till Lindemann is accused of sexually assaulting groupies.
In the middle of a European tour, the singer of Rammstein, one of the most popular metal bands in the world, is accused of having been at the center of a real system intended to sexually assault groupies after concerts. The accusations, made in recent days in the German press by several women, are considered serious enough for the government to now require concert organizers to protect the public.
Aftershow
Targeting the German-speaking group selling the most albums in the world, these suspicions could mark the “end of show” for the sulphurous group of industrial metal, predicts the Suddeutsche Zeitung, one of the newspapers behind the revelations. The case began at the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman accusing the singer and lyricist of the group, Till Lindemann, of having drugged and sexually assaulted her after a concert the same month in Lithuania.
This testimony released the words of other young women, all describing more or less the same scenario. The groupies would have been spotted in the front rows of the concerts, filmed or photographed so that Lindemann could make his choice, before for some of them being invited backstage for parties. Some would then have been drugged before being attacked by the 60-year-old singer. The group strongly denies these accusations, while affirming the “take very seriously“.”It is important to us that (fans) feel comfortable and safe at our concerts, in front of and behind the stage“, says a statement posted on Instagram.
Protective area
A 21-year-old German YouTuber said in a 30-minute video that she was approached with a friend at a concert in 2022 by Makeeva, who invited them to a “after-party“. Taken to a room where a dozen other girls were said to be, she was allegedly incited to drink alcohol, after security agents confiscated the mobile phones. “Suddenly I realize: I am there as a sexual object. Panic !“, relates the young woman, finally managed to leave the place.
Faced with these accusations, the German government requested protective measures for the female public of Rammstein. “Young people in particular need to be better protected against attacks“, declared to AFP the German Minister for the Family, the ecologist Lisa Paus. The minister proposes in particular the establishment of protection zones for women during concerts as well as teams likely to intervene in case of sexual assault.
We have to discuss”quickly and concretely“of protective measures, asks the minister, for whom”a serious debate on the responsibility of artists and organizers towards their fans would be useful“.
Four sold-out Rammstein concerts are scheduled for this week at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. The area just in front of the stage (“Row Zero”) in which the singer would have spotted the young women will be removed. “The organizer informed us yesterday that there will be no Row Zero or Aftershow Party here at home“, told AFP Tobias Kohler, spokesman for the stadium.
Pyrotechnics and neo-Nazism refuted
The group, founded in 1994 by musicians from the former GDR and experienced in provocations in its clips, must notably perform in the coming weeks in France, Italy, Switzerland or even Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Austria.
Rammstein – whose name refers to the air disaster on an American base in the eponymous city in 1988 – is the most famous German-speaking group in the world. He is known for his spectacular performances on stage with a lot of pyrotechnics and for his taste for provocation, which has already earned him accusations of proximity to Nazi ideology, firmly rejected by the musicians.
In March 2019, the group had aroused violent criticism after the broadcast of a video where its members appear as prisoners of concentration camp.