Christoph Schneider from Rammstein
Band drummer feels ‘in shock’
The band Rammstein around frontman Till Lindemann (right) in 2017.
© imago/Future Image
Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider has commented on the allegations against Till Lindemann.
After the allegations against Rammstein singer Till Lindemann (60), Christoph Schneider (57), the band’s drummer, made a personal statement. In a post on Instagram Schneider writes on June 16 that he wants to share his “personal emotions and thoughts” with his followers.
The accusations from the past few weeks “shook us deeply as a band and me as a person,” explains the musician. “I feel like I’m in shock by the things that have been shared and printed about our singer on social media and in the press,” he continues. It was “an up and down of emotions” for the crew and the members of the band.
“I’ve never seen anything like this”
Then Schneider goes into the allegations: “No, I don’t think anything criminally relevant (such as the use of knockout drops) happened. No, I don’t think anything illegal happened, I’ve never seen anything like it and the like has not been heard from anyone in our hundred-strong crew.”
According to him, everything the drummer heard from Lindemann’s parties was “adult people partying together. And yet things seem to have happened that – albeit legally ok – I personally don’t think is right. Certain structures have grown, that went beyond the boundaries and values of the rest of the band members. It is also important to us that Till’s parties are not confused with our official after-show parties.”
According to Schneider, Lindemann has moved away from the band
According to Schneider, Lindemann has allegedly “gone away from us in recent years and created his own bubble. With his own people, his own parties, his own projects. That made me sad, definitely.”
Shelby Lynn, who attended a Rammstein concert in May, was the first woman to make allegations against Lindemann on social media. A little later, further descriptions of Rammstein concerts were published via social media, which correspond to Lynn’s descriptions. Young women are said to have been specifically selected and invited to after-show parties. Sexual acts are also said to have taken place. Research by the NDR and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” substantiated this. Lindemann denies the allegations his lawyers called them “invariably untrue”.
In early June, the band had, among other things published a statement on her Instagram account, which said: “The allegations hit us all very hard and we take them extremely seriously.” The group condemns “any kind of abuse”. They asked not to prejudice either those “who made allegations” or the band.
Public prosecutor’s office in Berlin is investigating Rammstein singers
It recently became known that the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is now investigating Rammstein frontman Lindemann. This was confirmed by a press spokeswoman on June 14 for the news agency spot on news. An investigation was initiated “due to several criminal complaints by third parties – i.e. persons not involved in the possible crime – as well as ex officio by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office,” as the spokeswoman said.
It is therefore about “accusations in the field of sexual offenses and the delivery of narcotics”. Further information could not be given at the moment, “so as not to endanger the ongoing investigations and to protect the personal rights of the potentially injured and the accused,” it said. The presumption of innocence continues to apply to Lindemann.