Till Lindemann spoke for the first time about the termination of the proceedings by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office against him: “I would like to thank everyone who waited impartially for the investigation to end,” Lindemann wrote in a post on his Instagram story. The public prosecutor’s press release was also available.
We previously reported:
Till Lindemann has one less worry: the Berlin public prosecutor’s office has stopped its investigations against the 60-year-old due to a lack of evidence. As the authority announced, the evaluation of the evidence did not result in sufficient suspicion for alleged sexual offenses. The criminal charges were filed in June by uninvolved third parties. The lawyers of the Rammstein singer, who was charged with serious allegations of abuse, shared the decision of the public prosecutor’s office and also announced that they would continue to take civil action against “inadmissible representations” and “illegal reports of suspicions”.
The previous investigations referred to paragraph 177 of the penal code. It regulates sexual assault, sexual coercion and rape. The authority has now announced that there is no evidence to support the allegation that Lindemann administered KO drops to young women or sexually exploited them.
About the possible future of Rammstein:
The labels
After the allegations of abuse against Rammstein singer Till Lindemann became known, the band’s record company, Universal Music, paused the collaboration with the announcement in mid-June 2023. A statement read: “The allegations against Till Lindemann shocked us and we have the greatest respect for the women who spoke out so courageously in this case. We are convinced that a full clarification of the allegations, also by the authorities, is absolutely necessary and must also be in the interest of the entire band.” So far, a “full clarification of the allegations” has not taken place. “After the allegations became known, we suspended the marketing and promotional activities for the band’s recordings until further notice.” That also applies to this day. It is not yet known what became of the investigations by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office against Lindemann.
Rammstein
It is unclear whether Rammstein will ever release an album again. Even if the house blessing within the sextet is not crooked, the breaks between their records have tended to become longer. Only three years passed between “Rammstein” and “Zeit” (2019-2022), but before “Rammstein” the last studio recording was called “Love is for everyone” – and it dates from 2009. Chart evaluations have also shown that in the past few weeks, many Rammstein albums have even climbed the rankings. Expression of a “now more than ever” attitude of the fans. Rammstein have really benefited from the scandal, and streaming numbers have also skyrocketed. Probably also because on Spotify and Co. more and more people wanted to hear what kind of songs are about violence.
The Tour
At the same time, the year 2023 has also shown that her fans are very loyal. The Berliners completed their “Europe Stadium Tour” in sold-out stadiums, despite all allegations of abuse. If the band were to announce a next European concert tour for 2024 – business would almost certainly be booming again. In addition, Rammstein will celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2024. There are always rumors that the band could use this as an opportunity for a world tour. Germany could initially be left behind, since the European Football Championship taking place in this country would block a number of venues. In an Insta video, the sextet said goodbye by saying “goodbye” – which would mean that they are not breaking up. “Die Rammexikanos”, a Mexican Rammstein fan club, is said to have published videos on social media containing a globe and the message: “2024 – a 5-month journey. Are you ready?”
till Lindemann
The 60-year-old frontman is at the center of the storm. His book publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch has ended the collaboration. However, as the star of the band – and as the most successful solo artist – he could go on alone, especially since, judging by drummer Christoph Schneider’s infamous Instagram post, he has distanced himself from the others anyway. His European tour begins on November 8th in Leipzig (where he performs in the city’s largest arena) and ends on December 20th in the Accor Arena in Paris, which is no less impressive because of its size. There have been isolated calls for the Lindemann shows to be banned. His next appearance is at the Blue Ridge Rock Fest in Virginia, USA, at the International Raceway. He is advertised there as “Voice of Rammstein”, maybe he is not well known under his own name in the USA, and with an “exclusive United States performance”. He is named seventh in the lineup, after Slipknot, Pantera, Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Limp Bizkit and Evanescence.
Oliver Riedel and Paul Landers
The bassist and guitarist were the least reported in the course of the Rammstein case. Riedel is considered a hermit, appears painted black and often pulls his hood over his face. Landers posts photos of his dog and everyone thinks it’s cute. Also a kind of strategy to deal with the allegations?
Christopher Schneider
The drummer doesn’t give a good picture. Cried on stage in Munich, then published a long, quite self-pitying essay on Instagram, in which he gently criticized his bandmate Lindemann, was otherwise surprised and, above all, emphasized that nothing criminal had happened on tour.
Richard Z Kruspe
The guitarist obtained a counterstatement from “Spiegel” because he was also accused (the magazine sticks to its statement). Considered the musical head of the band and is the leader of the rock band Emigrate. In addition to Lindemann, perhaps the only Rammsteiner who could continue on his own – albeit as a smaller number compared to Lindemann. Lastly, in a “no one knows what the future will bring” post, he was rather nebulous. He can afford that.
Flake
The keyboarder is considered the fun torture victim and mascot of the band. Before the allegations of abuse against Lindemann became known, he had successfully cultivated an image as a funny, bespectacled Icke East Berliner who was amazed at the party behavior of the others and kept asking himself how he could have been invited to the biggest rock party in the world. What is less funny is that he has now also been accused. Prior to that, Radioeins suspended its radio broadcast for the time being, it was removed from TV recordings, and its book publisher also announced that no further editions of its novel adventures were planned. The most eloquent and most telegenic musician of the band thus lost some communication channels indefinitely. Since Christian Lorenz, as Flake is called, always wanted to come across as positive, his image loss is perhaps the most serious.