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Three line-ups of Accept performing in 2013, 2017, and 2022.

Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen. Formed in 1976, the group originally featured lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, bassist Peter Baltes, lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, drummer Frank Friedrich and rhythm guitarist Gerhard Wahl. The band's current lineup includes Hoffmann, lead vocalist Mark Tornillo (since 2009), rhythm guitarist Uwe Lulis, drummer Christopher Williams (both since 2015), bassist Martin Motnik and rhythm guitarist Philip Shouse (both since 2019).

History

1976–1994

Accept evolved from an earlier group called Band X, with the first lineup including Wolf Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Udo Dirkschneider, Frank Friedrich and Gerhard Wahl.^[1] Wahl was replaced by Jörg Fischer in 1978.^[2] After the recording of the group's self-titled debut album, Friedrich left Accept and was replaced by Stefan Kaufmann.^[2] Fischer left suddenly after a tour in 1982.^[2] He was replaced briefly by Jan Koemmet,^[3] followed by Herman Frank shortly before the release of Restless and Wild.^[4] Fischer returned to replace Frank shortly after the release of Balls to the Wall.^[2]

In 1987, Dirkschneider was fired from Accept and subsequently pursued a solo career under the moniker U.D.O.^[5] He was replaced by a succession of temporary vocalists, before the band settled on David Reece and released Eat the Heat in 1989.^[6] Fischer left again before the recording of the album.^[2] Jim Stacey joined on rhythm guitar for the album's promotional tour, which also saw Ken Mary take over from Kaufmann after the regular drummer suffered a back injury.^[2] Accept subsequently decided to disband, after increasing differences with Reece and Kaufmann's injury.^[2] By 1992, the band had returned with a lineup of Dirkschneider, Hoffmann, Baltes and Kaufmann, releasing Objection Overruled the next year.^[7] Kaufmann was forced to leave again after the release of Death Row, with Stefan Schwarzmann taking his place.^[8]

Since 1994

After the Death Row touring cycle, Schwarzmann was replaced by Michael Cartellone, who performed on 1996's Predator.^[9] The group disbanded for a second time in 1997.^[2] In 2005, Accept returned for a short run of shows in Europe and Japan, with Dirkschneider, Hoffmann and Baltes joined by Frank and Schwarzmann.^[10] The tour ended in August, after which Hoffmann claimed that Dirkschneider was preventing a longer reunion for the band.^[11] Members returned to other projects until 2009, when a new lineup of Accept was unveiled with vocalist Mark Tornillo in place of Dirkschneider.^[12] The group's lineup remained stable until 2014, when Frank and Schwarzmann were fired.^[13] Their places were taken in April 2015 by Uwe Lulis and Christopher Williams, respectively.^[14] Baltes quit the band in November 2018.^[15]

For tour dates in early 2019, Baltes was replaced by Danny Silvestri, who had previously played with the group in 2017.^[16] In April, the band brought in Martin Motnik as their new full-time bassist.^[17] On 1 November, the band announced that Philip Shouse, previously a touring member, had joined them as their third guitarist, thus making them a sextet.^[18]

Members

Current

Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Wolf Hoffmann	1976–1989 1992–1997 2005 2009–present	lead guitar backing vocals	all Accept releases
Mark Tornillo	2009–present	lead vocals	all Accept releases from Blood of the Nations (2010) onwards
Uwe Lulis	2015–present	rhythm guitar backing vocals	all Accept releases from Restless and Live (2017) onwards
Christopher Williams	2015–present	drums	all Accept releases from Restless and Live (2017) onwards
Martin Motnik	2019–present	bass backing vocals	all Accept releases from Too Mean to Die (2021) onwards
Philip Shouse	2019–present	guitar	all Accept releases from Too Mean to Die (2021) onwards

Former

Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Peter Baltes	1976–1989 1992–1997 2005 2009–2018	bass backing and occasional lead vocals	all Accept releases to Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017 (2018)
Udo Dirkschneider	1976–1987 1992–1997 2005	lead vocals	all Accept releases from Accept (1979) to All Areas: Worldwide (1997), except Eat the Heat (1989)
Frank Friedrich	1976–1979	drums	Accept (1979)
Gerhard Wahl	1976–1978	rhythm guitar	none
Jörg Fischer	1978–1982 1984–1988	rhythm guitar backing vocals	all Accept releases from Accept (1979) to Staying a Life (1990), except Balls to the Wall (1983) and Eat the Heat (1989)
Stefan Kaufmann	1979–1989 1992–1994	drums backing vocals	all Accept releases from I'm a Rebel (1980) to Death Row (1994) All Areas: Worldwide (1997)
Jan Koemmet	1982	rhythm guitar	none
Herman Frank	1982–1984 2005 2009–2014	rhythm guitar	Balls to the Wall (1983) Blood of the Nations (2010) Stalingrad (2012) Blind Rage (2014)
Michael White	1987	lead vocals	none
Rob Armitage	1987–1988		none
David Reece	1988–1989		Eat the Heat (1989)
Jim Stacey	1989	rhythm guitar	none
Stefan Schwarzmann	1994–1995 2005 2009–2014	drums	Death Row (1994) – two tracks only all Accept releases from All Areas: Worldwide (1997) to Blind Rage (2014)
Michael Cartellone	1995–1997	drums	Predator (1996)

Touring

Name	Years active	Instruments	Details
Ken Mary	1989	drums	Mary was hired to finish the Eat the Heat tour due to Stefan Kauffmann's health problems.
Danny Silvestri	2017 2019	bass	Silvestri substituted for Baltes at Wacken Open Air 2017, and rejoined after his departure in late 2018.^[16]
Ava-Rebekah Rahman	2019–present	violin	Rahman joined the touring lineup of Accept for the Symphonic Terror tour starting in April 2019.^[17]
Joel Hoekstra	2024	guitar	Hoekstra is temporarily filling in for Shouse.^[19]

Timeline

Lineups

Period	Members	Releases
1976–1978	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Gerhard Wahl – rhythm guitar Frank Friedrich – drums	none
1978 – early 1979	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Frank Friedrich – drums Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals	Accept (1979)
Early 1979 – early 1982	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals	I'm a Rebel (1980) Breaker (1981)
Early – mid-1982	Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals	Restless and Wild (1982)
Mid-1982	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jan Koemmet – rhythm guitar	none
Late 1982 – early 1984	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar	Balls to the Wall (1983)
Early 1984 – mid-1987	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals	Metal Heart (1985) Kaizoku-Ban (1985) Russian Roulette (1986) Staying a Life (1990)
1987	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Michael White – lead vocals	none
1987–1988	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Rob Armitage – lead vocals
1988	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals
1988–1989	Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals	Eat the Heat (1989)
1989	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals Jim Stacey – rhythm guitar	none
1989	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals Jim Stacey – rhythm guitar Ken Mary – drums	none
Band inactive 1989–1992
1992–1994	Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals	Objection Overruled (1993) Death Row (1994)
1994–1995	Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Schwarzmann – drums	Death Row (1994) – two tracks All Areas: Worldwide (1997)
1995–1997	Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Michael Cartellone – drums	Predator (1996)
Band inactive 1997–2005
2005	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar Stefan Schwarzmann – drums	none
Band inactive 2005–2009
May 2009 – December 2014	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar Stefan Schwarzmann – drums Mark Tornillo – lead vocals	Blood of the Nations (2010) Stalingrad (2012) Blind Rage (2014)
April 2015 – November 2018	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums	Restless and Live (2017) The Rise of Chaos (2017) Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017 (2018)
November 2018 – April 2019	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums	none
April – November 2019	Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums Martin Motnik – bass, backing vocals	none
November 2019 – present	Wolf Hoffman – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums Martin Motnik – bass, backing vocals Philip Shouse – rhythm guitar	Too Mean to Die (2021) Humanoid (2024)