Till Lindemann

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Till Lindemann
Till Lindemann.jpg
Lindemann in 2010
Background information
Born (1963-01-04) January 4, 1963 (age 51)
Leipzig, Saxony, East Germany
Genres Neue Deutsche Härte, industrial metal, heavy metal, punk rock, hardcore punk
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 most commonly recognized as the lead vocalist and frontman of the German industrial metal band Rammstein.


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 the 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 11th in the 1500 m freestyle, and seventh in the 400 m freestyle swimming a time of 4'17"58 - 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.


Lindemann at a Rammstein show during the song "Rammstein" wielding two flamethrower gauntlets
Main article: Rammstein

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 band entered and won a contest in Berlin that allowed them to record a four track demo professionally. Lindemann moved to Berlin. During Rammstein's early years, Lindemann revealed that he'd gotten burned many times because of his use of over-the-top pyrotechnics. An incident in 1996 caused a section of the band's set to burn, and as a result, Lindemann got his certification in pyrotechnics so the band could perform with pyrotechnics more safely than it had previously.

During Rammstein's US tour with Korn in 1998, Lindemann and his band mate Christian "Flake" Lorenz were arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts for lewd conduct performed during their song "Bück Dich", which consisted of Lindemann using a liquid squirting dildo and simulating anal sex on Lorenz. Both Lindemann and Lorenz were released the following day after bail was met.[1] This incident did not stop Lindemann from performing in the same manner for future shows outside the United States, but the United States performances of this song were changed into a sadomasochistic theme that did not feature dildos.

In November 2002, Lindemann's poetry book Messer was published. It consists of 54 poems compiled by Gert Hof, the author of the book Rammstein and was the band's pyrodesigner for the last seven years.[2]

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.[3]

Lindemann is not a stranger to injury, as he mentioned in Rammstein's early career that he'd gotten burned several times with unprofessionally rigged pyrotechnics. At a performance in Sweden in 2005, he received a knee injury on stage when keyboardist Flake accidentally ran into him while riding a Segway PT. This injury caused several tour dates in Asia to be cancelled. During the filming of the band's music video for "Ich tu dir weh", Lindemann wanted a light put in his mouth to create a visually stunning effect. Band mate Paul Landers suggested that he use a flesh colored wire and run it along his cheek to shine a light into his mouth from the outside. Lindemann refused, and instead opted to have a surgical incision in his left cheek, so that a light could be fed into his mouth directly, and largely out of sight.

There is a specific performance move of Lindemann's has been dubbed "The Till Hammer".[4] This move is where he bends his knees, beats one fist off his thigh in a hammering motion while turning his head from side to side. On occasion, Flake has been seen to parody the move on-stage. Unlike most band frontmen, Lindemann stated in an interview that he does not like being looked at while on stage, and he opts to look at the back to the mixing booth, or does hand gestures during guitar solos to distract the audience from looking directly at him. Due to his on-stage anxiety, Lindemann sometimes asks his band mates to use a rubber dinghy to crowd surf during shows, as it gets the audience's attention away from the stage temporarily.[5]

Lindemann is also an actor, appearing with his bandmate Christoph Schneider as musicians in the 1999 film Pola X, playing a character named Viktor in the children's comedy film Amundsen der Pinguin (2003), and also appearing as an animal rights activist in the 2004 film Vinzent.

As guest artist[edit]

  • Lindemann appeared as guest drummer on the album Hea Hoa Hoa Hea Hea Hoa by Feeling B for the song "Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend" which, despite its German title, is sung in Russian. Years later, this track was performed live at a Rammstein gig in St. Petersburg on 19 November 2001, during the Mutter tour.
  • Lindemann provides vocals for the track Helden (a cover of Bowie's Heroes) on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide.
  • Lindemann also sings on "Wut Will Nicht Sterben" by Die Puhdys.
  • Lindemann and Richard Kruspe covered the Aria song Shtil and released it as Schtiel.
  • Lindemann also appeared on Knorkator's music video to the song Du nich.

Personal life[edit]

Lindemann's first daughter, Nele, was born in 1985, and it was mentioned in a German interview that he spent seven years as a single father. Lindemann has a second daughter with his ex-wife Anja Köseling, named Marie Louise, who was born in 1993.[6] Lindemann has only mentioned his oldest daughter directly in interviews, and has conveyed a genuine love for her. Even though he is only confirmed to have fathered two children, in an interview with Playboy Magazine in 2006, Lindemann simply admitted that he had "a lot of children", due to numerous affairs and one-night-stands.[7] Lindemann also mentioned in this interview that he was dating someone during that time, but was confirmed to have been dating a younger German model Sophia Thomalla in 2011.



  1. ^ "Rammstein’s Act Lands Two Members In Jail". MTV. 7 June 1999. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  2. ^ "Till Lindemann: Messer. Gedichte und Fotos". perlentaucher.de. 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  3. ^ "Shock Rock (Ep. 1-09) Metal Evolution". VH1.com. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  4. ^ "Till Hammer". Urban Dictionary. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  5. ^ "Till Lindemann - Interview Anakonda im Netz (English Subtitles)". YouTube. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  6. ^ "Till Lindemann - Biography". IMDb. 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 
  7. ^ "English long interview (Playboy January 2006) : Till Lindemann". Till-lindemann.skynetblogs.be. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2014. 

External links[edit]