List of Running Wild band members

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Running Wild was initially founded as Granite Heart in 1976 by Rolf Kasparek with guitarist Uwe Bendig, bassist Jörg Schwarz and drummer Michael Hoffmann.^[1] Schwarz was quickly replaced by Carsten Davis, although by 1979 both he and Hoffmann had left the group, which was then renamed Running Wild.^[2] With new bassist Matthias Kaufmann and drummer Wolfgang "Hasche" Hagemann, the band released its first demo Rock from Hell in 1981, before temporarily disbanding in the summer of 1982 after just five shows in two years.^[3] Kasparek and Hagemann reformed Running Wild in the autumn with new guitarist Gerald "Preacher" Warnecke and bassist Stephan Boriss, releasing a string of demos during 1983 and 1984.^[4] The band's debut full-length album Gates to Purgatory was issued later in 1984.^[5]

After touring in promotion of Gates to Purgatory ended in the summer of 1985, Warnecke left Running Wild. Kasparek recorded the majority of guitars on the band's second album Branded and Exiled, before Michael "Majk Moti" Kupper arrived in place of Warnecke, adding three guitar solos.^[6] The new lineup released Under Jolly Roger in 1987, before Boriss and Hagemann were replaced around July or August by Jens Becker and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.^[7] Live album Ready for Boarding and studio follow-up Port Royal followed in 1988, after which Iain Finlay replaced Schwarzmann, who left to join U.D.O.^[8] Finlay himself left shortly after the release of Death or Glory at the end of 1989, with former stand-in Jörg Michael temporarily taking his place for live shows during 1990.^[9] Kupper left towards the end of the year for "personal reasons".^[10]

At the end of 1990, Kasparek and Becker recorded Blazon Stone with new guitarist Axel Morgan and drummer Rudiger "AC" Dreiffen.^[11] This was followed later in 1991 by The First Years of Piracy, a collection of re-recordings of previous songs.^[12] This was the last album to feature Becker on bass and AC on drums, both of whom were fired after touring into the early months of 1992.^[13] They were replaced by Thomas "Bodo" Smuszynski and the returning Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively, who debuted together on Pile of Skulls later that year.^[14] In 1993, Morgan and Schwarzmann were fired, later joining with fellow alumnus Jens Becker to form X-Wild.^[7]

Running Wild released Black Hand Inn in 1994 with new guitarist Thilo Hermann and drummer Jörg Michael.^[15] This was followed by Masquerade in 1995 and The Rivalry in 1998, after which Michael left to focus on his other band, Stratovarius.^[16] He was replaced on tour by former Rage drummer Chris Efthimiadis, while Angelo Sasso was brought in for the recording of the band's next album, Victory.^[17] In January 2001, Kasparek announced that Smuszynski had been let go from the band.^[18] His replacement, Peter Pichl, was confirmed in August.^[19] The following month, it was announced that Hermann had also left the group, reportedly to "focus on his family life".^[20]

The band's next album, The Brotherhood, was released in February 2002 and featured a reduced lineup of Rolf Kasparek on vocals and all guitars, Peter Pichl on bass, and Angelo Sasso on drums.^[21] For the tour in promotion of the album, Kasparek and Pichl were joined by new guitarist Bernd Aufermann and drummer Matthias Liebetruth.^[22] Aufermann later revealed that he was "nothing more or less than the live guitarist" for the band,^[23] with all guitars on 2005's Rogues en Vogue performed by Kasparek.^[24] By March 2005, Aufermann had left the band, with Kasparek stating he was "not sure" who would take his place for future tour dates.^[25] For shows later that year, Peter J. Jordan took over as live guitarist.^[26] Running Wild remained inactive from 2006 to 2009,^[27] before it was announced in April 2009 that the band would play a final show on 30 July at Wacken Open Air before disbanding.^[28] Jan-Sören Eckert played bass at the show, which was released in 2011 as The Final Jolly Roger.^[27]

In October 2011, Kasparek announced that he was reforming Running Wild to record a new album, Shadowmaker.^[29] The album was released in April 2012 and featured Jordan playing guitar solos on four tracks, with Kasparek dubbing the album "a solo project".^[27] The pair continued to collaborate, releasing Resilient in October 2013.^[30] After a year off due to an injury, Kasparek returned in 2015 with a full lineup of Running Wild for its first shows since reforming, adding Ole Hempelmann on bass and Michael Wolpers on drums.^[31] This lineup has remained intact to date, releasing Rapid Foray in 2016 and Blood on Blood in 2021.^[32][33]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Rolf "Rock 'n' Rolf" Kasparek	1976–1982 1982–2009 2011–present	lead vocals guitar bass (studio, 2011–2015)	all Running Wild releases
	Peter J. Jordan	2005–2009 2011–present	guitar backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from The Final Jolly Roger (2011) onwards
	Ole Hempelmann	2015–present	bass backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from Rapid Foray (2016) onwards
	Michael Wolpers		drums

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Uwe Bendig	1976–1982	guitar backing vocals	Rock from Hell demo (1981)
	Michael Hoffmann	1976–1979	drums	none
	Jörg Schwarz	1976	bass
	Carsten Davis	1976–1979
	Wolfgang "Hasche" Hagemann	1979–1982 1983–1987	drums occasional backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from the Rock from Hell demo (1981) to Under Jolly Roger (1987)
	Matthias Kaufmann	1979–1982	bass	Rock from Hell demo (1981)
	Stephan Boriss	1982–1987	bass backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from the 1982 demo to Under Jolly Roger (1987)
	Gerald "Preacher" Warnecke	1982–1985	guitar backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from the 1982 demo to Gates to Purgatory (1984)
	Michael "Majk Moti" Kupper	1985–1990 (died 2023)		all Running Wild releases from Branded and Exiled (1985) to Death or Glory Tour Live (1990)
	Jens Becker	1987–1992	bass backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from Ready for Boarding (1988) to The First Years of Piracy (1991)
	Stefan Schwarzmann	1987–1988 1992–1993	drums backing vocals	Ready for Boarding (1988) Port Royal (1988) Pile of Skulls (1992)
	Iain Finlay	1988–1990	drums	Death or Glory (1989) Wild Animal EP (1990) Death or Glory Tour Live (1990)
	Axel Morgan	1990–1993	guitar backing vocals	Blazon Stone (1991) The First Years of Piracy (1991) Pile of Skulls (1992)
	Rudiger "AC" Dreffein	1990–1992	drums backing vocals	Blazon Stone (1991) The First Years of Piracy (1991)
	Thomas "Bodo" Smuszynski	1992–2001	bass backing vocals	all Running Wild releases from Pile of Skulls (1992) to Victory (2000)
	Thilo Hermann	1993–2001	guitar	Black Hand Inn (1994) Masquerade (1995) The Rivalry (1998) Victory (2000)
	Jörg Michael	1993–1998[a]	drums	Black Hand Inn (1994) Masquerade (1995) The Rivalry (1998)
	Chris "Efti" Efthimiadis	1998–2000 (touring only)	drums	none
	Angelo Sasso	1999–2001 (session only)		Victory (2000) The Brotherhood (2002)
	Peter Pichl	2001–2009	bass backing vocals	The Brotherhood (2002) Live (2002) 20 Years in History (2003) Rogues en Vogue (2005)
	Matthias Liebetruth	2002–2009	drums backing vocals	Live (2002) 20 Years in History (2003) Rogues en Vogue (2005) The Final Jolly Roger (2011)
	Bernd Aufermann	2002–2004 (touring only)	guitar backing vocals	Live (2002)
	Jan-Sören Eckert	2009 (touring only)	bass backing vocals	The Final Jolly Roger (2011)