Scorpions Member Francis Buchholz Dead at 71

Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz has died following a battle with cancer.

Via The Sun, his wife Hella shared the news on social media on Thursday. He was 71.

“It is with overwhelming sadness and heavy hearts we share the news that our beloved Francis passed away yesterday after a private battle with cancer,” read the post. “He departed this world peacefully, surrounded by love. Our hearts are shattered. Throughout his fight with cancer, we stayed by his side, facing every challenge as a family – exactly the way he taught us.”

The family thanked fans for their “unwavering loyalty and love” throughout his journey. “You gave him the world, and he gave you his music in return. Though the strings have gone silent, his soul remains in every note he played and in every life he touched.”

Per The Post, born in Hanover, Germany on Feb. 19, 1954, Buchholz discovered rock music at 11, later joining a band as a bass player in high school when he was 15. In 1972, he joined the hard rock band Dawn Road with Uli Jon Roth, Jürgen Rosenthal, and Achim Kirschning, playing neoclassical music. The band only lasted a year, as all four members ultimately teamed with Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine for Scorpions.

Buchholz was with the German hard rock band for 18 years and recorded 12 studio albums with them. He abruptly left the group in 1992, later citing “internal band turmoil, legal conflicts, and a desire to spend more time with his family” as reasons for departing Scorpions. “I was fed up with the music,” he said during a 2023 interview. “I was fed up with being in the group with all this internal fighting and turmoil that was going on after spending so many years together.”

“So, at that time, I became a father of twin girls, and I already had a year and a half old child,” Buchholz continued. “So, I decided that was what I was going to focus on. I removed myself from the world of rock and into the world of family life.”

He ultimately reunited with Roth in 2005 for a United States and Europe tour in 2005 and 2006. In 2008, Buchholz worked with the band Dreamtide as their bass player and co-producer. He also reunited with Schenker in 2012 for the European dates of his Temple of Rock – Lovedrive Reunion Tour with former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell, as well as former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White and MSG’s Wayne Findley. Buchholz would continue to perform with Temple of Rock until 2016, releasing two studio albums and two concert albums, as well as going on several tours.