Legendary German hard rock band SCORPIONS was honored at the European Culture Prize (Europäischer Kulturpreis) gala this past Saturday, August 28 at Bonn Opera House in Bonn, Germany. The event, which was held in the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven, was dedicated to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth. SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker accepted the award in person. They later shared a couple of photos from the event on social media and wrote in an accompanying caption: "What an honour to receive the wonderful EUROPEAN CULTURE AWARD 2021 in Bonn / Germany … Thank you so much …it was truly a Night to remember". The European Culture Prize is awarded to personalities, initiatives, artists, politicians or institutions for outstanding services and achievements about Europe and its people. The ceremony is held annually in different European cultural cities, and the prize sponsor is the European Cultural Forum in Dresden. SCORPIONS recently completed work on their new album for a tentative early 2022 release. The LP was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. SCORPIONS' new album will mark their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material. SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff. SCORPIONS' last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.
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