Gotthard

Originating from Switzerland, the English-singing hard rock group Gotthard stands among the country’s most commercially dominant acts in music history. Their global album sales exceeded two million copies, one million of which moved inside Switzerland alone, a nation with under eight million people, owing to the fact that virtually every release reached the top of the Swiss charts. The band also found consistent favor in Germany, where their albums routinely entered the rankings.

Established in Lugano inside the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino at Switzerland’s southern edge, the outfit first operated as Krak with vocalist Steve Lee, guitarist Leo Leoni, bassist Marc Lynn, and drummer Hena Habegger. Under the supervision of Krokus bassist, songwriter, and founder Chris von Rohr, they adopted the name Gotthard—taken from the Roman Catholic saint and the celebrated St. Gotthard Pass—and secured a recording agreement with BMG.

Produced and co-written by von Rohr, the self-titled debut Gotthard appeared in 1992. Lee and Leoni supplied most of the additional songwriting, while Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell contributed to two cuts, “Firedance” and “Get Down”. Two videos, “Hush” and “All I Care For”, received MTV rotation, helping the album spend fifteen weeks on the Swiss chart, reach number five, and earn platinum certification.

After extensive international touring, the band reunited with von Rohr to create Dial Hard in 1994. Even stronger commercially than its predecessor, the record occupied the Swiss summit for several weeks, registered in Germany and Japan, and attained platinum status, boosted by MTV videos for “Mountain Mama” and “I’m on My Way”.

In 1995 the musicians traveled with von Rohr to Los Angeles to record G., issued in 1996 and introduced by the single “Father Is That Enough?”. It topped the Swiss chart and landed inside Germany’s Top 50, promoted through a sold-out Swiss trek, a twenty-date German run, and a Japanese tour. At this stage Mandy Meyer, formerly of Asia on their 1985 album Astra, joined the lineup; he exited in 2004 and was succeeded by Freddy Scherer.

Gotthard’s momentum held steady after G., which many regard as their commercial high point. The live unplugged album D-Frosted from 1997 and the studio effort Open from 1999 each commanded the Swiss album chart for five weeks. European touring remained constant, and in 2000 the band scored its first number-one single with “Heaven”.

Subsequent releases continued to top the Swiss chart while charting respectably in Germany: Homerun in 2001, the ballad collection One Life One Soul in 2002, Human Zoo in 2003, the best-of set One Team One Spirit in 2004, Lipservice in 2005, the live album Made in Switzerland in 2006, and Domino Effect in 2007. Need to Believe followed in 2009.

In October 2010 vocalist Steve Lee died near Mesquite, Nevada when a semi-truck struck a parked motorcycle that then hit Lee, who stood beside the road with traveling companions. After a year of mourning the remaining members resolved to continue; in November 2011 they introduced new vocalist Nic Maeder with the track “Remember It’s Me”. The tenth studio album Firebirth arrived the following year and was widely viewed as the start of Gotthard’s second chapter.

The band returned in 2014 with the aptly named Bang!, their first album to incorporate French lyrics on the track “C’est la Vie”. In 2017, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of their debut, they released their twelfth studio album, Silver.