Gotthard

GOTTHARD, named after the longest railway tunnel in the world through the base of the Alps between Switzerland and Italy, are Swiss Hard Rockers of some repute and were formed by vocalist Steve Lee, who had previously fronted FORSALE. It was this outfit in which, presumably he had met guitarist Leo Leoni. Leoni had appeared in a guest capacity on FORSALE's second albumWith a band line-up completed by ex-STORMBRINGER and CHINA bassist Marc Lynn plus drummer Hena Habegger, the group supported MAGNUM in Britain during 1992 after the 'Gotthard' debut album was made available in Britain and opened for VICTORY in Germany.The group's second album, 'Dial Hard', GOTTHARD's first Swiss no. 1, was produced by former KROKUS bassist Chris Von Rohr and also featured some guest guitar contributions from DEF LEPPARD guitarist VIVIAN CAMPBELL.GOTTHARD completed a sell out tour of Germany in 1996 with support from Scandinavians ROYAL HUNT as the 'G' album gave them a further number 1 hit in Switzerland. The band also improved on their standing in Japan where the Swiss outfit was to tour in support of the new album.GOTTHARD's 'D-Frosted' album gave them a yet another number 1 in their homeland. The album, an entirely live acoustic outing, featuring a cover of DEEP PURPLE's 'Hush', saw KROKUS men Jürg Naegeli and Chris Von Rohr contributing to the songwriting. Italian guitarist VIC VERGAT and KROKUS man Mandy Meyer also aided.GOTTHARD toured in support of the album with support band MONKEY CAB. During these dates GOTTHARD found themselves at a gig in Locarno quite surreally joined onstage for a few numbers by opera diva Montserrat Caballe.Ex-GOTTHARD guitarist Igor Gianola would join German Metal band U.D.O. for their 1999 'Holy' album. Leoni produced the Marc Storace led DC WORLD album of 2000. GOTTHARD themselves resurfaced in early 2001 with a brand new album 'Homerun'. The January 2002 ballad compilation 'One Life, One Soul', the band's record breaking sixth consecutive Swiss number one album, would include two new numbers including a version of the ROLLING STONES 'Ruby Tuesday'.The band would announce a break from the successful partnership with songwriter and producer Chris Von Rohr in mid 2002. A new album, apparently moulded in a tougher vein than previous releases and provisionally entitled 'Human Zoo', would be recorded for an early 2003 release date. In keeping with tradition, 'Human Zoo' naturally took the top position on the Swiss charts. Guitarist Mandy Meyer left the band in March of 2004. Later that year the band announced they had founded their own label imprint, G.Point Records. An August compilation album, entitled 'One Team, One Spirit', saw the inclusion of three brand new songs in the title track, adopted as the anthem for the Swiss Olympic team, 'Fire & Ice' and 'Inside Out'.December 2004 would prove to be a momentous month for GOTTHARD, not only signing a long term record deal with Nuclear Blast Records for new album 'Lipservice' but also receiving a Diamond award for Swiss sales of one million album sales. Japanese copies on the Avalon Marquee label added an extra track 'Nobody's Home'.In April 2005 Steve Lee formed up a one-off power trio, alongside Marc Storace of KROKUS and Gigi Moto, to record a QUEEN melody for the Swiss SFDRS TV show 'Benissimo'. A one off UK show at London's Garage venue on 26th June rather oddly saw all female Norwegian Doom band OCTAVIA SPERATI as support.In May GOTTHARD's live album, 'Made In Switzerland', quite incredibly gave the band its tenth consecutive number one album, even beating out strong competition from TOOL and PEARL JAM who also launched new albums that same week. GOTTHARD cut a Spanish language version of 'Lift U Up' re-branded 'Tu Pasión', this entering the Spanish charts at no. 19.That October the group united with a heavyweight billing comprising STRATOVARIUS, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, SAXON, NEVERMORE, AFTER FOREVER, PRIMAL FEAR and SEPULTURA for the 'Live n' Louder' festivals across Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. MyGen Profile Generator