Wind of Change: Scorpions

The German rock band Scorpions’ lead singer, Klaus Meine, was inspired to write Wind of Change at a rock festival in Moscow in the summer of 1989. Politics were rapidly shifting in the Soviet Union at the time, as a result of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms. Recalling the peaceful yet revolutionary atmosphere at the concerts, Klaus said, “There was a whole new generation of Russian kids that said the Cold War would be over soon - we could literally feel the world changing in front of our eyes.”

No one had any idea that the Berlin wall would come down only a few months later. Wind of Change was released in 1990, and has since become an unofficial anthem for the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany in 1991. The power ballad is one of the best-selling singles in history, and popular all over the world.

Featuring interviews with Scorpions lead singer Klaus Meine, Russian rock musician Stas Namin, and true stories of what the song means to people who lived in the former USSR.

(Photo: Klaus Meine (L) and Matthias Jabs (R) of Scorpions performs at Palco Mundo at Cidade do Rock, 2019 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Wagner Meier/Getty Images)