Rammstein on tour, after the investigation against its singer for sexual assault was dropped

An explosive announcement. As part of a new European stadium tour in 2024, the German group Rammstein will perform on June 8 and 15 respectively at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille and at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, they announced on Wednesday October 11. The ticket office will open on October 18 at 11 a.m.

The day before, the group thunderously announced, on its Instagram account, the future series of concerts without, however, revealing the dates and locations of the event.

The announcement comes against a backdrop of controversy surrounding leader Till Lindemann, accused last June by several women of sexual assault. Allegations denied by the leader leading to the opening of an investigation by Berlin, abandoned almost 3 months later. The Berlin public prosecutor's office considered that it could not “establish that Till Lindemann had non-consensual sexual relations with women”.

The case dates back to the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman accusing the singer and lyricist of the group of having drugged and sexually assaulted her after a concert the same month in Lithuania. Other young women then testified, all describing more or less the same scenario. The groupies would have been spotted in the front rows of concerts, filmed or photographed so that Lindemann could make her choice, before some being invited backstage for parties. Some would then have been drugged before suffering the attacks of the singer who denied it through his lawyers.

Tensions within the group, calls for boycotts, protests... then punctuated their tour. In Bern, last June, where despite the controversy the group sold out, around 150 people demonstrated in front of the stadium where they were to perform. Known in particular for his songs with very crude sexual references, and his occasional polemics on the Shoah, Rammstein has sold more than twenty million albums worldwide. In addition to its extravagant concerts animated by impressive pyrotechnic effects, the German-speaking group owes its success to the imposing physical presence of Till Lindemann and his deep bass voice.