Michael Schenker
Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker is a musician that had achieved great success and admiration amongst his fans and peers. Over the course of his near 50 year long career, the German born guitarist has established himself as one of the most beloved and influential guitarists in all of rock; even being named as one of the early founders of the genre we know as ‘Power Metal’. However, Michael’s journey could’ve been way different, and it almost was…
In a recent interview with BraveWords, Michael opened up about the time he was asked to audition for The Rolling Stones at the young age of 17. Here is what he had to say…
“When UFO invited me, I came over. I was only over in England for a few months and then I get a phone call from someone asking me to audition for The Rolling Stones. I was very, very scared. I called my brother and told him and said to him, ‘What shall I do?’ I was very nervous about it. I never called back and I left it. I had joined UFO, I’m 17 and very shy and very sensitive in a country without any knowledge of English. It was quite a big step already. So when that came my way, I remembered images of The Stones in the paper. First of all, Brian Jones had just died. And then I saw pictures of The Stones looking at each others’ lice. I mean, like, in the hair, looking for lice! The whole image that The Rolling Stones had, I was scared that it was a dangerous thing to be with them. UFO and Great Britain was a step that was big enough at that point in time.”
In my humblest of humble opinions, I think that Michael made the right choice. At such a young age he was very vulnerable and the rock and roll life with THAT band would’ve eaten him alive, at least that’s my guess. But what do you think? Do you think he made the right decision? Let us know in the comment section!