DORO PESCH: 'I Love To Make The Fans Happy And Give Them All I've Got And Empower Them'

In a new interview with Metal Mayhem ROC, German metal queen Doro Pesch was asked about her status as a pioneer for women in heavy metal music. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's nice. Yeah, when people say, 'Yeah, man, you inspired me with your video,' 'All We Are', or something, or, 'We formed a band because we saw the video' or 'we listened to one song', that makes me so happy.

"When I started out, I swear, there were maybe 99% guys in the audience and maybe a handful of girls, and now it's almost 50-50. So I think that's great," she continued. "And so many great singers and female musicians and female bands. It feels great. But back when we started, I was the singer of the band. I didn't even think that I was like any different. I just did what I loved. Everybody knew I was dead serious about it. I wouldn't give up so easy, and I was always treated really good. I never felt that it was so different being a woman. Later on, people like journalists, they wrote some articles [highlighting the fact that I was a] woman, but to me, I'm just my little old self. I'm a metalhead. I love music. I love to make the fans happy and give them all I've got and empower them, give out great energy and sing my heart out. So, yeah, to me it was nothing special being a woman. I was just a woman. But I loved it. I was always treated so good. When we toured with people like Ronnie James Dio or MOTÖRHEAD or JUDAS PRIEST or SAXON, you name it, everybody was always super, super nice to me and very supportive. And then even these big rock stars like Gene Simmons…. I was a big KISS fan growing up — I still am — and then it was so wonderful when Gene Simmons [produced] one of my records. It was in '89, '90… That was unbelievable that Gene Simmons would produce an album, and he was writing many songs for this. And it was, 'Wow.' I mean, if you would've told me when I was like still in school that I would ever work with Gene Simmons of KISS — oh my God. So many great things happened, and I learned a lot. I learned a lot from so many people. I'm very grateful, and I wanna give it back to other bands or to new bands or to new female musicians or female bands. All the support I got, I always give it back. Whoever wants to do it — it's a tough job too, always goes up and down, but it's the best. It's the best."

A decade ago, Doro was asked by the Phoenix New Times if she could recall a memory when she first realized that the industry was embracing more females in heavy metal. "I love music and I loved the fans right from the start," she responded. "I had a great connection to the art and to the fans. To me, in metal, it doesn't matter if you're a woman or man; music isn't about that. So I never felt like I got negative feedback or feelings. I was just Doro. Everyone was so supportive, especially my other musicians or bands on tours, whether it was the legendary JUDAS PRIEST or the greatly loved and missed Ronnie James Dio and W.A.S.P. — we just had so many excellent tours and everyone was so nice and respectful."

She continued: "In the industry, it was always cool and I never felt different. I just know in the media and in magazines, they were writing things like, 'one of the few women of heavy metal,' but, to me, honestly... I think people knew I was deadly serious and dedicated, so people maybe didn't question it."

Doro added: "People might've thought it was crazy or different, a woman in heavy metal, but I never felt different. I think it was more, um, you had to fight more for your music; you had to fight more to do heavy metal. Because in the beginning with metal, it was accepted as a whole. So you had to really work your ass off, work 10 times more, to make other people feel like metal is something really beautiful. So, as a metalhead, I had more issues in the beginning just having people accept metal in general. [Laughs] Yeah, yeah! Metal has so much power and soul. It's about fighting for your music; to fight for heavy metal. That was way more difficult than fighting to be a woman in the genre."

Doro has just released "Warriors Of The Sea" via Rare Diamonds Productions. This special album is available not only as a CD digipak and picture-disc vinyl, but for the first time in Doro's career, also as liquid-filled vinyl — infused with blue curaçao.

Pesch told Metal Talk about "Warriors Of The Sea": "It's a special album, 'Warriors Of The Sea'. I'm super excited about it. At first, it was this idea to just write a song for this cruise. We did our own cruise for the first time. I did many cruises, like the Full Metal Cruise, the Monsters Of Rock cruise and the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise. So, I thought, I want to do my own cruise if it's at all possible. It was hard work to even get connections to the right ship, to people who want to do it. And then we did it. And the fans, they were excited about it. So, the first cruise was immediately sold out. And then we said, okay, let's do a second one. Then I thought, man, we… must do something really special each day, a different setlist, a different design. So, it looked like a ghost ship, a pirate ship. Then we wear different outfits like little pirates. Then I wrote a song for this cruise, and it's called 'Warriors Of The Sea'. At first, I thought maybe a single. And then we were talking about it, thinking about it, and how about we do a whole album, which has songs for this cruise. Then we came up with the idea, a picture of this, and then the liquid-filled vinyl, which is a new thing. I don't know if it will last because it is sinfully expensive. It's made by hand, but I have it here. The liquid goes crazy when you put it on your record player. It's really nice and it's all made by hand. I can't believe it."

On March 31, Doro received a lifetime achievement award in her former hometown of Düsseldorf. The award was presented to the singer in a grand, ceremonial setting by Klaus Meine, frontman of the legendary rock band SCORPIONS.

The award honored Pesch's groundbreaking career, which began in the 1980s with her band WARLOCK. As one of the first women to break into the male-dominated heavy metal scene, she established herself as a lasting force in the international music industry. With over ten million albums sold and more than 3,500 concerts across 60 countries, the Düsseldorf native is among the most successful female rock musicians of all time.

Doro's latest album, "Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud", was released in October 2023 via Nuclear Blast.

Photo credit: Jochen Rolfes