Michael Schenker Group
MSG performing in 2022
Background information
Also known as	MSG
Origin	London, England
Genres	Hard rock heavy metal
Years active	1979 (1979)–present
Labels	Chrysalis Capitol Impact Shrapnel In-akustik
Spinoffs	McAuley Schenker Group
Spinoff of	UFO
Members	Michael Schenker Robin McAuley Steve Mann Bodo Schopf Barend Courbois
Past members	See list

The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) is a British-German hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker.^[1] In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1993.^[1] Afterwards, in 1996, the Michael Schenker Group was reformed.^[2] After the release of their second live album, 1984's Rock Will Never Die, its members began to have serious discussions that caused a two-year hiatus, and Michael ended the band in 1986.

The group has had many different members over the years with Schenker the only constant presence.

History

The band was formed in 1979, following the breakup of Michael Schenker from UFO, in an attempt to have a band that better suited his needs. He therefore decided to move to London; a few weeks after his arrival in the British capital, he joined Gary Barden, vocalist of Fraser Nash, who, with bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Denny Carmassi founded a new band, simply called Michael Schenker Group.^[3] The following year they recorded their second album, MSG, which placed at No. 14 on the UK charts. During their promotional tour, they played at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan in Japan, where their first live album was recorded titled One Night at Budokan. It was released in 1982 with great success in the UK where it was certified silver after exceeding 60,000 copies sold.

In October 1983, the band released Built to Destroy, the first with keyboardist Andy Nye and which also featured Derek St. Holmes, known at the time as Ted Nugent's vocalist. To promote it, they gave several concerts in the UK and later went on tour to other European countries as the opening band of Iron Maiden. Their farewell concert was held on December 18, 1983 at the Dortmund festival, after which the band disbanded, and the guitarist founded the McAuley Schenker Group.

After deciding to wrap up the McAuley Schenker Group project, Schenker decided to re-found the band in 1996 with Leif Sundin on vocals, Barry Sparks on bass and Shane Gaalaas on drums with whom he recorded Written in the Sand. Two years later, they released The Unforgiven, with Kelly Keeling replacing Sundin and with John Onder replacing Sparks.

Discography

MSG at Kavarna Rock Fest 2012. From left: Wayne Findlay, Francis Buchholz, Herman Rarebell, Doogie White, Michael Schenker.

Members

Current members

• Michael Schenker – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1979–present)^{[6][7][8][9][10]}
• Robin McAuley – lead vocals (1986–1993, 2011, 2012, 2016–2020, 2022 2023–present)^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}
• Steve Mann – keyboards, rhythm and occasional lead guitar, backing vocals (1986–1987, 1988–1991, 2016–present)^[19][20][21]
• Bodo Schopf – drums (1986–1987, 1988–1991, 2007–2008, 2019–present)^{[22][23][24][25]}
• Barend Courbois – bass guitar, backing vocals (2021–present)^[26]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Schenker Group.

• Michael Schenker official site
• Michael Schenker Group at AllMusic
• MSG in the BNR metal pages