Kai Hansen

Hansen began his musical career in 1978 as a member of Gentry, alongside Piet Sielck. In 1983, Hansen and Michael Weikath founded Helloween. Hansen initially served as guitarist and vocalist. Michael Kiske later became the band's lead vocalist, beginning with the albums "Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I" and "Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II". Hansen left Helloween on 1 January 1989. He subsequently formed Gamma Ray.

Hansen joined Iron Savior as a guitarist in 1997 and remained with the band for several years before concentrating on Gamma Ray. With Gamma Ray, he recorded several albums and toured internationally.

Hansen has also participated in numerous other musical projects. He appeared as a guest vocalist on Blind Guardian's albums "Follow the Blind" and "Tales from the Twilight World". He and Gamma Ray guitarist Dirk Schlächter contributed guitar solos to the song "Never Understand" on Angra's debut album "Angels Cry". Hansen later contributed vocals to the song "The Temple of Hate" on Angra's 2004 album "Temple of Shadows". He also appeared as a guest guitarist on Michael Kiske's debut solo album "Instant Clarity". With HammerFall, he recorded a cover of Helloween's song "I Want Out".

Hansen appeared as the character Regrin the dwarf on Tobias Sammet's Avantasia albums "The Metal Opera" and "The Metal Opera Part II". He later played guitar on the song "Shelter from the Rain" from the album "The Scarecrow". Hansen also participated as a guest musician on Avantasia's 2010 world tour, where he performed alongside Michael Kiske for the first time since their respective Helloween years.

In 2005, Hansen toured with the German power/Viking metal band Stormwarrior, serving as lead vocalist and performing material from Helloween's debut album "Walls of Jericho". The collaboration continued in 2007 with appearances billed as Stormwarrior featuring Kai Hansen at the Magic Circle Festival in Bad Arolsen and the Wacken Open Air Festival. Hansen also performed with Stormwarrior at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2008.

In 2011, Hansen joined Unisonic as a second guitarist. The band had been formed in 2009 by Michael Kiske. Hansen's arrival reunited the two former Helloween members. Unisonic released its debut album, "Unisonic", in 2012 and subsequently embarked on a world tour. The band's second album, "Light of Dawn", was released in 2014, followed by European and Japanese tours.

In 2015, following Gamma Ray's Best of the Best Party Tour, Frank Beck joined Gamma Ray as a second vocalist.

Hansen released his first solo album, "XXX - Three Decades in Metal", on 16 September 2016 through earMUSIC. In 2017, he performed four concerts in Slovakia and the Czech Republic with the band Ravenclaw as part of a tour billed as Ravenclaw feat. Kai Hansen, marking the band's 15th anniversary.

On 14 November 2016, Helloween announced the Pumpkins United World Tour, which reunited Hansen and Kiske with the band's then-current members. The tour took place from 2017 to 2019 and included performances featuring former and current members of Helloween.

During his early career, Hansen's singing style was influenced by thrash metal vocalists. His vocals combined a raspy tone with high-pitched screams. Michael Kiske was initially brought into Helloween as a vocalist in part because Hansen had difficulty singing and playing guitar simultaneously. Hansen later continued to develop as a vocalist.

From around 1995 onwards, Hansen provided lead vocals for Gamma Ray. His vocal style during this period became more melodic and clearer, while retaining elements of the nasal tone and rasp associated with his earlier singing.