Ralf Scheepers

{{Short description|German singer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{BLP sources|date=May 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Ralf Scheepers | background = solo_singer | image = Primal Fear – Logo Hamburg 2016 05.jpg | caption = Scheepers performing with Primal Fear in 2016 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|2|5|df=yes}} |birth_place =[[Esslingen am Neckar|Esslingen]], [[West Germany]] | Death = | genre = [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]], [[power metal]] | current_member_of = [[Primal Fear (band)|Primal Fear]] | past_member_of = [[Gamma Ray (Band)|Gamma Ray]] | occupation = Singer | years_active = 1983–present | website = }}

'''Ralf Scheepers''' (born 5 February 1965) is a German singer and the lead vocalist for the [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Primal Fear (band)|Primal Fear]].<ref name="Sharpe-Young2007">{{cite book|last=Sharpe-Young|first=Garry|title=Metal: The Definitive Guide : Heavy, NWOBH, Progressive, Thrash, Death, Black, Gothic, Doom, Nu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNrV3iQ_qrIC&pg=PA346|accessdate=29 October 2014|year=2007|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=9781906002015|pages=346–347}}</ref> He has also sung in [[Gamma Ray (band)|Gamma Ray]] and Tyran' Pace. Scheepers has also provided guest vocals for the bands [[Avantasia]], [[Xandria]],<ref>{{cite web |title=XANDRIA Share Music Video For New Single "You Will Never Be Our God" Feat. PRIMAL FEAR's RALF SCHEEPERS |url=https://bravewords.com/news/xandria-share-music-video-for-new-single-you-will-never-be-our-god-feat-primal-fear-s-ralf-scheepers |website=[[Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles]] |access-date=7 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Scanner, [[Therion (band)|Therion]], [[Ayreon]] and [[Shadow Gallery]], and worked with Tom Galley on [[Phenomena (band)|Phenomena]]'s ''Blind Faith'' album. He currently provides instruction for all around singing, music, studio and recording/processing techniques at the RS Vocal Works in [[Baltmannsweiler]], Germany.<ref>[http://www.ralfscheepers.com/Home.html], Scheepers. www.ralfscheepers.com/Home.html.</ref> Writer [[Paul Stenning]] has described him as "the greatest example of strength in metal."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bravewords.com/news/bravepicks-2020-the-scribes-speak-paul-stenning|title=BravePicks 2020 - the Scribes Speak! Paul Stenning}}</ref>

== Trivia == The formation of Primal Fear (1997) coincided with the rumor that Scheepers was a candidate to succeed [[Rob Halford]] at [[Judas Priest]] the year before. In an interview from 2012, Scheepers confirmed that he knew of his name on the [[shortlist]], but at the same time pointed out that he had never been invited to a rehearsal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bravewords.com/news/primal-fear-vocalist-ralf-scheepers-i-was-never-invited-to-rehearse-with-judas-priest |title= PRIMAL FEAR VOCALIST RALF SCHEEPERS - 'I WAS NEVER INVITED TO REHEARSE WITH JUDAS PRIEST' |language=en |date=2012 |access-date=2023-08-04}}</ref> The then Priest guitarist [[K.K. Downing]] explicitly mentions Scheepers in his autobiography ('Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest', 2018), as one of the few suitable candidates: "And there weren't many candidates. Ralf Scheepers, who at that time was singing in Gamma Ray, was definitely a possibility, but nothing came of that." .<ref>{{ cite book | author = K. K. Downing | title = Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest | publisher = Little, Brown Book Group | location = London |date=2018 |ISBN=978-1-472-12870-6 | page=227}}</ref>

==Discography== '''Studio albums''' *''[[Scheepers (album)|Scheepers]]'' (2011)

===Primal Fear=== {{main|Primal Fear (band)#Discography}}

===Tyran' Pace=== * ''Eye to Eye'' (1983) * ''Long Live Metal'' (1984) * ''Watching You'' (1986)

===Gamma Ray=== '''Studio albums''' * ''[[Heading for Tomorrow]]'' (1990) * ''[[Sigh No More (Gamma Ray album)|Sigh No More]]'' (1991) * ''[[Insanity and Genius]]'' (1993)

===F.B.I.=== *''Hell on Wheels'' (1993)

===Blackwelder=== *''Survival of the Fittest'' (2015)

===Enzo and the Glory Ensemble=== *''In the Name of the Father'' (2015) *''In the Name of the Son'' (2017) *''In the Name of the World Spirit'' (2020)

==Filmography== ===As actor=== *''Dreath: Sidestories Underground'' (short, 2012) – Soldier *''Devil's Five'' (2021) – Ansel Schneider

===Soundtrack=== *''Gamma Ray: Skeletons & Majesties Live'' (video 2012) (lyrics: "The Spririt", "Brothers") / (writer: "Brothers")

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheepers, Ralf}} [[Category:1965 births]] [[Category:German heavy metal singers]] [[Category:German male singers]] [[Category:English-language German singers]] [[Category:Therion (band) members]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Esslingen am Neckar]] [[Category:Gamma Ray (band) members]] [[Category:Primal Fear (band) members]]