Ever since their emergence in 2005, the pop/rock quartet Tokio Hotel ranked among the most successful German acts of their generation. Their debut album Schrei delivered three number one singles that quickly drew an international following and earned platinum certifications in multiple countries outside Germany. Twin brothers Bill and Tom Kaulitz launched the band in their hometown of Magdeburg in 2001 at age twelve, completing the lineup with drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing before embarking on heavy touring and signing to Universal in 2003, at which point they changed their name from Devilish to Tokio Hotel.
Bill Kaulitz, then cultivating a futuristic androgynous image, wrote most of Schrei with contributions from prominent songwriters; the album arrived after the August 2005 release of the band’s debut single “Durch den Monsun.” The track climbed to the top of the German and Austrian charts within weeks as teenagers embraced the group with intense enthusiasm. Follow-up singles “Rette Mich” and “Der Letzte Tag” also reached number one, though “Rette Mich” was later re-recorded to accommodate Kaulitz’s vocal changes after puberty. Once Kaulitz finished his vocal work on Luc Besson’s animated fantasy Arthur and the Minimoys, the band recorded Zimmer 483, released in 2007; that same June they issued their first English-language album Scream, which reworked songs from Schrei and Zimmer 483. Scream reached the United States the following year.
Tokio Hotel prepared two editions of their 2009 third album Humanoid, one for each language market. Produced with the Matrix, Guy Chambers, and Desmond Child, Humanoid topped the German charts and became the band’s third album to achieve that feat, while the DVD Tokio Hotel TV: Caught on Camera! documented their 2008 activities. The live album Humanoid City and a best-of collection appeared in 2010. After continued touring in support of Humanoid, the Kaulitz brothers relocated to Los Angeles, and the band remained quiet until announcing their fifth album Kings of Suburbia in 2013. Their first fully English effort, Suburbia reflected a pronounced electronic-pop direction shaped by the Kaulitzes’ new home city, and its singles included “Love Who Loves You Back,” “Feel It All,” and “Run Run Run,” the last of which Kelly Clarkson and John Legend later covered. The sleek, dancefloor-ready Dream Machine followed in 2017.
