DORO PESCH Says Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Brought Back Memories For Her Mother Of Second World War

German metal queen Doro Pesch weighed in on the war in Ukraine in a new interview with TotalRock's Dawn Osborne. The 57-year-old singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I believe you can get along with everybody, even when they have a different opinion or different background or different mentality.

"I'm born in the '60s, but I know my mom, she escaped the [Second World] War, and now all her memories come back," she continued. "And I think she escaped with her naked feet. She had to, whatever, run with her mom, and now all these memories come back. And she always tells me about it. She never told me about the war situation [before]; I think she was, like, eight, nine years old. And she broke her foot and then she still had to escape. And I thought, 'Man, when she sees the news.' Then she said, 'Doro, I know what it's like. I was there.' And then I feel so bad for her that she even has to… that all the bad stuff comes back. I think she was always trying to forget about things. And she escaped from Poland back in the day."

Doro went on to say that "nobody can believe" the atrocities that are being uncovered in northern Ukraine. "And musicians, they always wanna try to — at least try to — make the world a better place, make everybody happy," she said. "I talked to many musicians about it. Some people got so depressed. It's tough. Even when I hop onstage now, then I see everybody's faces filled with sadness and stuff. And I try extra hard to lift their spirits. At least in the two hours I can be on stage to make the most out of it. And every day counts. We now know — man, life isn't forever. So every day is precious."

This past February, Doro told Waste Some Time With Jason Green that she had "started writing a book" years ago but that she had to stop because she "couldn't sleep anymore; I got nightmares. Because if you really wanna think about the truth, oh, man, it's worse than a horror movie," she explained. "And I thought, man, I'd rather wanna move on, do more good stuff, give out good power, energy, records and do a great tour and not thinking about all the times where I almost lost my life — many times. It was so hardcore and actually almost unbelievable, I think. I haven't seen a movie that hardcore yet. So when I was starting to write, and I did it with another journalist, and then after a while, I called him up and I said, 'Hey, no more. I can't take it.' I'd rather concentrate on positive stuff. And of course, all the people, they like to see and to hear about all these intense stories or the dirt. Maybe when I'm not touring anymore, then I would write it. It was a lot of stuff which was so unbelievable. And you probably need to go to a therapist after you read that book, when it's finally done. Yeah, it's really unbelievable. And sometimes I don't even know how I survived it… Everything you can imagine was happening. So I don't wanna continue writing that book right now… It's the same like if you would think about maybe — I don't know if you were ever married or divorced — but it's like when you think of your divorce, oh, it drives you crazy."

She continued: "It was the worst nightmares. Sometimes I think, man, if it wouldn't have been for the fans or for people I love, which are the fans, I probably would have killed myself. It was, like, really, really bad. And I thought, wow… [There was] no light on the end of the tunnel sometimes. So I don't even know how something changed to the better."

Asked if the dark times were a constant through her life, Doro said: "Yes. Yes. Yeah. Even when I was a little child, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Bad stuff. And when you're a child, there was no way out sometimes. So I don't even know why I can be so happy right now. But it's because of the music and the fans and all that stuff. I don't know. It stopped a few years ago. But I always try to put everything maybe into some interesting songs or lyrics. I can feel when people are in pain or when there's something going on and stuff, so I can be maybe more sensitive towards people who need some uplifting things or some good energy and stuff. I think that's important. So that's maybe the reason why I had to go through some stuff which was not pleasant. But I have a deeper understanding now."

Doro is currently working on material for a new studio album, tentatively due later in the year. The LP will be the follow-up to "Forever Warriors, Forever United", which came out in 2018. That double album featured 19 regular tracks and six bonus songs.

In celebration of 35 years of the "Triumph And Agony" album from her former band WARLOCK, Doro released "Triumph And Agony Live" in various formats, including CD, vinyl, cassette, DVD, Blu-ray, and a huge box set, last September through her own label, Rare Diamonds Productions. The "Triumph And Agony" artwork centered on Geoffrey Gillespie's famous original drawing of the "Warlock" embracing the blonde rock star.