Francis Buchholz, best known as the bassist for Scorpions from their first album Fly to the Rainbow through their 1990 album Crazy World has passed away after a short battle with cancer.
Buchholz, who also did a stints with the Michael Schenker Band and Uli Roth, played on the classic four-album run from 1979-1984 (Lovedrive – Animal Magnetism – Blackout – Love at First Sting), and was a fixture in Hit Parader and Circus Magazines with his bandmates as hits like “No One Like You” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” climbed the charts in hard rock and heavy metal’s heyday.
While his departure from Scorpions was publicly announced as being for “personal reasons,” there were less-public allegations, investigations, and lawsuits into financial abuses he allegedly committed while acting as the band’s accountant. While he consistently denied any wrongdoing and cited a toxic culture within the band for any disagreements, there was no love lost after his departure, and his name was rarely mentioned in the Scorpions camp from that point on.
Regardless of his questionable legacy and the circumstances that led to his departure, his contributions as the bassist of the Scorpions for their first 15 years cannot be denied.
RIP Francis Buchholz.
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit, fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos, and plays acoustic shows all over the place. Follow him and them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
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