Hansi Kürsch

Hans Jürgen Kürsch, better known as Hansi Kürsch (born August 10, 1966 in Lank-Latum, Germany) is the lead vocalist of power metal band Blind Guardian. Together with André Olbrich, he is also the principal songwriter for the band. He was also the bassist in Blind Guardian until the 1998 album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. A signature of Kürsch's songwriting is his practice of doubletracking his own voice innumerable times in complex, overlapping har... more

Hans Jürgen Kürsch, better known as Hansi Kürsch (born August 10, 1966 in Lank-Latum, Germany) is the lead vocalist of power metal band Blind Guardian. Together with André Olbrich, he is also the principal songwriter for the band. He was also the bassist in Blind Guardian until the 1998 album Nightfall in Middle-Earth. A signature of Kürsch's songwriting is his practice of doubletracking his own voice innumerable times in complex, overlapping harmonies on his recordings, effectively creating the atmosphere of a huge choir. This is very similar to the production techniques employed by Freddie Mercury of Queen, of whom Hansi is a huge fan. The track "Chant" on the first Demons & Wizards album is vocal only, in the style of a traditional Gregorian Chant; Kürsch's is the only voice on the song. Over the years, Hansi has developed his harmonizing and layering techniques more and more, to the point that some fans of Blind Guardian found the vocals to be overwhelming at times (particularly... less