Tom Kaulitz[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

Tom Kaulitz (born 1 September 1989), is a German guitarist. He is best known for his work as the guitarist of pop rock band Tokio Hotel.

Early life[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

Tom Kaulitz was born on 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, East Germany. He has an identical twin brother, Bill, who is younger by ten minutes. His parents, Simone Kaulitz and Jörg W., separated when Kaulitz was seven years old. Simone married Gordon Trümper, the guitarist from German rock band Fatun on 1 August 2009, after dating for 12 years.

Kaulitz showed an early interest in playing the guitar, as did Bill in singing. Trümper noticed the twins' musical inclinations, and helped the twins to start their own band. According to Kaulitz in several interviews, he and Bill started writing music at the age of seven years.

Career[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

Tom began writing music at the age of seven and developed interest in learning guitar. His mother’s then-boyfriend Gordon noticed Tom’s passion for music. Tom’s brother Bill too showed inclination towards singing, so Gordon helped the boys start their own band. At the age of ten, Tom and Bill started performing live in Magdeburg. During one of their shows, they met Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer. Together, they formed a new band named ‘Devilish,’ which was later renamed ‘Tokio Hotel.’

Tom and his band members received their big breakthrough in 2005 when ‘Tokio Hotel’ was signed by ‘Interscope Records,’ a record label owned by ‘Universal Music Group.’ The band released its debut LP, ‘Schrei,’ in 2005. Subsequently, Tom and his band members went on their maiden tour to Germany. In February 2007, they came up with their second album, ‘Zimmer 483.’ In the same year, ‘Tokio Hotel’ launched its debut English album, ‘Scream,’ which brought them international fame. In October 2009, Tom and his band members released their second English album, ‘Humanoid.’ While Tom wrote a couple of songs for the English version of the album, he and his brother wrote all the songs for the German version. In 2010, ‘Tokio Hotel’ performed its first concert in Asia. The band members performed in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Japan. In October 2014, the band released another album titled ‘Kings of Suburbia,’ which featured in several music charts across 47 countries. On March 3, 2017, German record label ‘Starwatch Music’ released the band’s sixth studio album, ‘Dream Machine.’ The album’s lead single, ‘What If,’ was released in December 2016. All the songs in the album were written by Tom and his brother. Tom Kaulitz has won several awards as part of ‘Tokio Hotel.’ ‘Tokio Hotel’ has a distinct honor of becoming the first German band ever to win an award at the ‘MTV Latin America Awards’ and the ‘MTV VMAs.’

Other work[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

Tom has modeled for ‘PETA,’ protesting the use of animals for entertainment. In 2010, he was featured in a ‘Reebok’ shoe commercial. In order to understand his fans better, Tom launched a fan app called ‘BTK Twins.’ Tom has also appeared in many German television series. He has composed music for a couple of short videos as well. In 2008, Tom and his brother faced trouble when a group of girls started stalking them relentlessly. They once followed Tom all the way to his home and attacked his mother when she questioned them. In April 2009, Tom was once again stalked at a gas station to which he reacted by hitting one of the girls. Subsequently, Tom was charged for assaulting the girl. He then lodged a counter complaint against the girl on grounds of stalking. In December 2009, charges against Tom were lifted.

Personal life[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

Tom Kaulitz dated a German model Ria Sommerfeld. He eventually got married to her but later filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Tom is currently engaged to Heidi Klum. Tom and Heidi dated for over a year before Tom decided to pop the question. On December 24, 2018, Heidi Klum flashed her engagement ring on her Instagram page. Tom is very close to his brother Bill. He once described his brother as his ‘soul mate.’ The brothers moved from Hamburg to Los Angeles in October 2010 to avoid being stalked. Also, the decision to move from Germany to the United States was partly taken to stay closer to their manager David Jost. Tom is trilingual and can speak German, English, and French.

References[Επεξεργασία | επεξεργασία κώδικα]

[1]Tom Kaulitz Biography