The history of the song "Wind of Change" (1990) - Scorpions (Scorpions)

At one time, one of the most popular hits of the Scorpions rock band "Wind of Change" was very popular among Soviet listeners. Such a fact was quite obvious, because Klaus Meine created this masterpiece while under the impression of a performance in the Moscow Olimpiysky sports complex. And although the members of the collective, famous far beyond the borders of their homeland, first visited the USSR a year earlier, the history of the composition originates precisely in the immemorial 1989...

The homeland of the band appreciated «Wind of Change» no worse than our listeners. Just a few months after the release, the Berlin Wall was torn down. In the summer, at the very dawn of the nineties, Scorpions performed their legendary hit in the very place where it once was ... This event marked "Wind of Change" with the cult anthem of the German reunification.

A year later, the Soviet Union collapsed. This gave music lovers from all over the world a reason for countless discussions about the fact that Klaus managed to catch that very variable breeze, and his creation became almost a prophecy for all Soviet residents ... Since then, “Wind of Change” has symbolized the collapse of the socialist camp , the end of the Cold War and Perestroika.

The members of the group included the composition on Crazy World, an album that was released at the beginning of the new decade. Five years later, the now hit also complemented the live recording of "Live Bites". At the beginning of the 2000s, the song was re-recorded with the participation of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and was included in the album "Moment of Glory". Subsequently, Scorpions released an acoustic version of Wind of Change, as well as several foreign-language versions, including Russian.

The song became the undisputed leader in a number of countries, including the homeland of the guys - Germany, as well as France and Austria. As for the American Billboard Hot 100, the track reached only the fourth line in this chart.

Curious facts...

According to a vote conducted by the German TV channel ZDF among its viewers, the composition "Wind of Change" is the hit of the century.

In 1990, the musicians from Scorpions performed their famous hit personally for Mikhail Gorbachev. This action took place in the Kremlin.

Interestingly, this song became the main background for the advertising of the computer game "Call of Duty: Black Ops". It was in this series that the location "Berlin Wall" was present.