Doro‘s new masterpiece – Conqueress – Forever Strong and Proud – will be released worldwide onOctober 27th viaNuclear Blast. The metal queen’s latest release also marks her landmark 40th year in music.
Doro’s attitude encapsulates the essence of heavy metal music. “I always try to do my best,” she says. “I don’t think too much about it. I just go forward and try to do the best I can with each song, each concert, each festival, or each record. And it’s still the same.”
Of course, there is one festival that will always hold a special place in Doro’s heart and that’s Wacken. The artist recently performed one of her star-studded anniversary shows with a headline performance at the legendary event. Speaking about this year’s Wacken, Doro said: “When we played there were only great vibes. People were so happy, the people who were there. I heard there were 60,000 people there and 85,000 is the capacity. But of course, it’s heartbreaking for the people who couldn’t come in. But the 60,000 people who were there, they were on fire. It was great.”
Having performed at Wacken over twenty times, it could be said that the singer’s hard work and determination have carried her to the top of the heavy metal world. Rightly claiming the title of Metal Queen. “I never took a vacation in my life. Every day I’m either in the studio, writing songs, rehearsing or on tour,” she says.
Throughout her career, the has singer has performed over 3,500 concerts and played in more than 60 countries around the world. When asked where the legend would like to take a well-earned vacation, Doro recalled performing an impromptu show in Thailand following a run of dates in Australia. “We flew to Koh Samui. Everybody had a little room. It was gorgeous. And the ocean, Oh my God, it was so nice. I had never been to Thailand, so it was a big surprise,” explains Doro. But what the artist didn’t expect was to be woken up by the sounds of her own music. “I went to sleep. At five o’clock in the morning suddenly you loudly heard All We Are,” she says.
The promoter of the show on the island was planning for a legendary night in the making. Doro’s anthemic number became the soundtrack to their promotion. “What they did, they rented out a truck with a big PA system, and then it was going all over the island. Every half an hour I heard it. From five o’clock in the morning – All We Are. And then, one day later, we played, and it was packed. And it was so great,” she says. “Thailand was a surprise. We saw a lot of things even in a short amount of time. But I would say Thailand was like, wow, it was overwhelming. I totally loved it.”
Despite their German roots, the UK was always a significant destination for the artist. “England was always the most important country because that’s where it was at. Everything got decided in England. For example, the record company in England would decide if you could get a worldwide record release or if you could go on tour. So England was super important,” recalls Doro. “I was heavily influenced by all the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Saxon, and we toured together many times. I love Biff and I love Saxon. So, to me Priest, Maiden and Motorhead, that was the most important thing.”
Music media was slightly ahead of the game in the UK in the early days of Doro’s career. “In Germany, when the metal scene started out, there were handwritten photocopied fanzines. In England, there were already magazines like Kerrang – back then, that was super important. We did our first TV shows in England.”
Of course, a lot has changed within the last 40 years. One of the tracks on Doro’s latest offering, Time for Justice, examines the state of the world today. “The world is so difficult. It is so wild, crazy, and chaotic,” she says. “Everybody knows in their heart what’s good, and what’s right. That’s what I feel. And metal heads have their heart in the right place. I thought, it’s time for justice, time for trust, and time to see things right again. Especially for women, that’s so important.”
Doro’s latest album also features her new single, Living After Midnight featuring Rob Halford from Judas Priest. But what was it about that Priest track that made Doro want to cover it for the album? “I always loved Breaking the Law and Living After Midnight. In the early 80s, when I was on tour with other bands, we didn’t have All We Are back then. Bands always started drinking and partying. But at the last couple of gigs we always did something together. And we said, what shall we do together? I didn’t know their songs, and they didn’t know my songs. So, we always did either Breaking the Law or Living After Midnight. And it was a big party for everybody, especially as the last song. When we played Wacken a couple of days ago, Living After Midnight was when we took photos and bowed. It was so great, and people were having such a great time. It reminded me of All We Are, just having a great time and feeling good, which I think is so important in this day and age.”
Doro adds: “I always loved the song, and it was a big honour to do something with Rob Halford and to do two songs with him. I couldn’t be more grateful and happy. He’s such a gentleman, and I love him so much. We’ve always stayed friends.”
One of the bonus tracks on Doro’s latest record is a cover of The Four Horseman by Metallica. The track was included to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Kill Em All. “We played together many times in the early 80s. I think in 84/85, it was some of the first gigs they did in Europe. It was in the Netherlands. Then we played at the Metal Hammer Festival in Germany – it was a beautiful thing. It was on the Rhine River. We played there together. I always loved James Hetfield so much. It was always great to play together and talk a little bit.”
With a career spanning 40 years, what would Doro say have been the personal highlights of her storied career? “I would say all the collaborations and the touring we did with my favourite bands and my heroes, like working with Gene Simmons, because I was a big Kiss fan; that was unbelievable. Recording with Lemmy in the studio and touring with Motorhead. We toured a lot together, and that was great. All the touring we did with Dio, that was fantastic. The tour with Judas Priest in 86 – that feels like yesterday,” she says. “We were a little Dusseldorf band; that was where everything started. I never thought we would last that long. I never thought we would have the privilege to get to know everybody and tour together or record stuff in the studio together. All these people I just mentioned, they were the highlights of my life.”
Doro’s new album, – Conqueress – Forever Strong and Proud – will be released worldwide on October 27th via Nuclear Blast.
Interview by Adam Kennedy
