There have been speculations, fueled by a 2020 podcast series, that Scorpions’ ‘Wind Of Change’ might have been the handiwork of the CIA. In a recent interview with Tales From The Road, Rudolf Schenker weighed in on the theory.
Schenker emphasized the power of music, saying:
“That was a great idea, but not in reality. They took the reality away and made their own story out of it. I mean, it’s a great idea, no question about this, but that you can see how strong these people thought that music is, that you can really change things by bringing the music into the fields.”
He continued, admitting he is proud of Scorpions’ potential to bring about change throughout their career:
“So, in this case, I’m very happy to be a part of the Scorpions and have the chance to play around the world. We played in over 80 countries in our career, and we are very happy to see the difference in the people.”
1990 hit ‘Wind of Change’ was a song that became synonymous with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union’s collapse, and there are theories that it was written by the CIA.
Hosted by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, a Spotify podcast titled ‘Wind of Change‘ brought the theory to the spotlight in 2020. Keefe’s investigation stemmed from a rumor he’d heard, which suggested that the song was penned by the CIA with an aim to hasten the end of the Cold War.
The podcast takes listeners from CIA headquarters in Virginia to Scorpions concerts in Kyiv, Ukraine, among other locations, to paint a detailed picture of the conspiracy.
Speaking to Vikram Chandrasekar in the interview, Schenker also talked about Scorpions’ forthcoming 60th anniversary. He said that the band looks forward to celebrating 60 years of Scorpions in 2025. As the guitarist revealed, their former drummer Wolfgang Dziony and former bassist Lothar Heimberg might also attend the celebrations.
You can watch the interview below.