During a November 11 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, legendary guitarist Michael Schenker was asked if he has been approached by SCORPIONS for their big 60th-anniversary gig next year.
He responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “No. I just know that I have been a very big part of creating Rudolf [Schenker, SCORPIONS guitarist and Michael‘s brother] as a musician. [Laughs] I don’t think without me, he would have been there, and maybe the other way around the same way. But the thing is that I have to protect myself from Rudolf. Every time he wants to do something with me or every time they wanna do something big and they need my name, he misuses me. And I’m very sad that he keeps doing that.”
“He’s seven years older than me. He’s a bully,” Michael continued. “He has been abusive to me for many, many years. He has distorted my image for many years, and he just pretends as if nothing ever happened. I guess, ’cause I asked other people, ‘Hey, how does your older brother treat you?’ And they say, ‘Oh, exactly the same.’ So I think it’s just the thing they do. They think they own you, they can do with you whatever they want. I’m seven years younger. ‘That’s just my little brother, nobody, blah, blah, blah.’
“I have no idea how these people, how their heads and their brains work, but the fact is I helped the SCORPIONS, I jumpstarted them, and they forgot everything about it. And it’s not the SCORPIONS that are the bad guys — or actually nobody is really the bad guy. It’s just Rudolf is just a crazy, weird person. I don’t know what drives him. But I don’t wanna be connected to it. So I don’t wanna be distracted with my vision every time I give in and say, ‘Okay, I’ll do something with Rudolf,’ and then he abuses me or uses me disrespectfully. I don’t know why he keeps going like that, but it’s just kind of very, very strange. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I don’t know why it’s so important for him to be bigger than his little brother.”
In an appearance on the April 12, 2024, episode of “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” Rudolf commented on his brother, saying: “I love him. He’s a great person. I watched him since he was a baby, and I love him, and I brought him in into all the bands he had in the earlier times and to care that he’s not going downhill. It’s up to him. He’s a very extreme person. He can’t be in a band. He’s not a band person. He is an extreme, great guitar player. And that’s a different situation.”
When asked if he is currently in contact with Michael, Rudolf replied: “[At] the moment, no. From my side, I would talk [to him] immediately. [Laughs] I even can’t be bad with him because I know what the situation is, where he talks from.”
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