Kai Hansen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kai Hansen
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Hansen performing in July 2024
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kai Michael Hansen |
| Born | 17 January 1963 Hamburg, West Germany |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar and vocals |
| Years active | 1978–present |
Kai Michael Hansen, born on January 17, 1963, is a famous German musician. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, and singer for the power metal band Gamma Ray. He also helped start another power metal band called Helloween. He was with Helloween from 1983 to 1989 and then rejoined them in 2016. Kai Hansen is a very important person in power metal music. Many people call him "the godfather of power metal" because he started two very influential bands in this music style. He has sold millions of albums around the world! In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic, which also featured Michael Kiske, another singer from Helloween. Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske even got back together with Helloween in 2017 for a big world tour. This tour celebrated 30 years since the release of Helloween's famous albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
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Early Life of Kai Hansen
Kai Hansen was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1963. When he was ten years old, Kai became very interested in music. He started by playing wash-drums, which are like homemade drums. His parents did not like the noise, so they bought him an acoustic guitar instead. He took guitar lessons for six months to learn classical guitar. After that, he bought an electric guitar, a white Ibanez Les Paul. He then formed his first band with his school friends.
Kai Hansen's Music Career
Kai Hansen's journey in music began in 1978. He was in a band called Gentry with Piet Sielck, who later helped start Iron Savior. In 1983, Kai and Michael Weikath created the band Helloween. Kai was the guitarist and singer for Helloween at first. Later, Michael Kiske became the main singer for albums like Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I and Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II.
Kai left Helloween on January 1, 1989. He said he was tired from touring a lot. After leaving, he started his own power metal band, Gamma Ray. Kai also joined Iron Savior as a guitarist in 1997. However, he left Iron Savior after a few years to focus more on Gamma Ray. He has had a very successful career with Gamma Ray, releasing many albums and playing concerts all over the world.
Other Music Projects
Kai Hansen has also worked with many other bands and musicians. He sang as a guest on Blind Guardian's albums Follow the Blind and Tales from the Twilight World. He also played guitar solos on songs by the band Angra, including "Never Understand" and sang on "The Temple of Hate." He played guitar on Michael Kiske's first solo album, Instant Clarity. Kai even recorded a cover of Helloween's song "I Want Out" with the band HammerFall.
Kai Hansen played the role of Regrin the dwarf in Tobias Sammet's Avantasia's "Metal Opera" albums. He also played guitar on the song "Shelter from the Rain" from Avantasia's album The Scarecrow. In 2010, he joined Avantasia's world tour. This allowed him to play live with his old bandmate Michael Kiske again, after more than twenty years. After this tour, it was announced that Kai would join Michael Kiske's new band, Unisonic. They felt the "magic of Helloween years again" and had a lot of fun playing together.
In 2005, Kai toured with a young German band called Stormwarrior. He was their lead singer and played songs from his classic Helloween album Walls of Jericho. This album was a big influence on Stormwarrior. "Stormwarrior featuring Kai Hansen" played at the Magic Circle Festival and Wacken Open Air Festival in 2007. They also played at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2008.
Unisonic and Solo Work
In 2011, Kai Hansen officially joined the hard-rock band Unisonic. He became their second guitarist and reunited with his old friend and former Helloween singer, Michael Kiske. Unisonic released their first album, Unisonic, in 2012 and went on their first world tour. Kai said that even though he was in Unisonic, he would still focus on Gamma Ray. Unisonic's second album, Light Of Dawn, came out in 2014, followed by tours in Europe and Japan.
In 2015, Kai Hansen hired Frank Beck as a second singer for Gamma Ray. In 2016, Kai released his first solo album called XXX – Three Decades in Metal. It was released on September 16 of that year. In 2017, Kai Hansen played a short tour in Slovakia and the Czech Republic with the band Ravenclaw. This was a special show for Ravenclaw's 15-year anniversary.
Helloween Reunion Tour
On November 14, 2016, a big tour called the Pumpkins United World Tour was announced. This was a concert tour for the German power metal band Helloween. Former members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen joined the current members for this tour. They played together in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Kai Hansen's Singing Style
When Kai Hansen first started singing, his style was similar to many thrash metal singers. He used a rough, "raspy" sound instead of a smooth and clear voice like his successor, Michael Kiske. He also used high-pitched screams for dramatic effect in his songs. Michael Kiske was brought in as a singer because Kai had trouble singing and playing the guitar at the same time. However, later in his career, Kai seemed to overcome these challenges.
From 1995 onwards, Kai Hansen has been the main singer for his band Gamma Ray. Around that time, his singing style became more melodic and a bit clearer. It became more like the traditional power metal singing style. However, he still kept a little bit of the rough sound from his early years.
Kai Hansen's Equipment
For nearly 20 years, Kai Hansen has played ESP Guitars. He started using them when he was in Helloween. He heard good things about ESP guitars from other famous guitarists like George Lynch and Kirk Hammett from Metallica. Before Helloween, he owned a white Ibanez guitar and a Gibson Les Paul. He saved money for a Marshall amplifier by delivering newspapers. His main ESP guitars are red and pink. They are custom-made ESP guitars shaped like the Randy Rhoads model and two custom V-shaped guitars, similar to the classic Gibson Flying V.
In the early 1990s, Kai Hansen used Stratocaster guitars. On the Gamma Ray website, he wrote that his first electric guitar was a white Ibanez Les Paul copy. On recent tours with Gamma Ray, he has been seen using a Korina Epiphone Flying V guitar with EMG pickups. Kai Hansen has used, and still uses, Engl amplifiers. He started using them during the recording of Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II.
Images for kids
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Hansen performing in July 2024
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Kai Hansen performing at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in 2005
See also
In Spanish: Kai Hansen para niños
