Scorpions Bassist Francis Buchholz Dies at 71

Francis Buchholz, who played bass for The Scorpions for nearly two decades including the German hard rock band’s most prosperous era, died Thursday of cancer. He was 71.

His family shared the news on social media, writng in part: “To his fans around the world – we want to thank you for your unwavering loyalty, your love, and the belief you placed in him throughout his incredible journey. You gave him the world, and he gave you his music in return. Though the strings have gone silent,his soul remains in every note he played and in every life he touched.”

Buchholz was a teenager when he joined The Scorpions in 1973 and would play with the group’s longest-running and most successful lineup thru 199,working the bass alongside singer Klaus Meine,guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs and drummer Herman Rarebell. The group released four albums with Buccholz for RCA Records from 1974-77 that failed to gain commercial traction, but the fifth put them on the international map.

After Scorpions changed labels — to Harvest Records in Europe and Mercury in North America — Lovedrive arrived in early 1979 and began to get airplay in the group’s homeland. Sporting a controversial, attention-getting jacket, the LP was the first with Jabs and defined the sound that would make the band international stars. Powered by songs including the title track and “Loving You Sunday Morning,” Lovedrive just missed the German Top 10 and gained traction in both the U.S.and UK.

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Animal Magnetism, with another eyebrow-raising cover, streeted in 1980 featured future classic rock staple “The Zoo,” a chugging tale of life on the mean streets of late-’70s New York City. The disc again sold well in Germany and continued the band’s rise in the States, Great Britain and othre countries.