Rammstein Frontman Till Lindemann Detained and Questioned By Russian Police

Jonas Rogowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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One would think that Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann was much loved in Russia, given that he released a concert movie of his final pre-pandemic Moscow solo show earlier this year. But apparently not, because yesterday, August 28th, the vocalist was detained and questioned by the Russian police.

According to Summa Inferno, Lindemann was supposed to play at the Maklarin For Homeland festival in Tver as a solo act tonight, Sunday the 29th. This was in violation of a COVID-19 restriction on mass gatherings, which is what is being used as the reason for his detainment. He was stopped in his hotel room and brought in for questioning by police.

Lindemann’s manager, Anar Reiband, also faces charges for entering the country as a tourist even though Russian authorities believe that he is an organizer of the festival. Reiband could could face deportation and a permanent ban from the country if he is found guilty.

The site has posted the following photos of Lindemann’s detainment:

As mentioned by Metal Injection, Lindemann’s recent NFT sale is not helping matters. Part of the NFT was a music video recorded at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. While Lindemann taped there with permission, the NFT sale was outside of the terms of the agreement, according to a report by DW.

It’s also worth noting that Till and Rammstein definitely have a rocky history with Russia. Earlier this year, an activist was sentenced to over two years in prison for sharing a clip of the music video for Rammstein’s song “Pussy.” Then, in June, Till released a music video for his track “Ich hasse kinder”, which tells the story of a young boy growing up in Soviet Russian and eventually plotting bloody revenge on the boys who tormented him at school growing up.

Everyone at The Pit wishes Till a swift release. We can only pray this is a publicity stunt. More as we know it.

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Words by Chris Krovatin