Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Florian Weber
All Music Guide:
Football-obsessed German rock trio Sportfreunde Stiller formed outside of Munich in 1996. Singer/guitarist Peter "Balboa" Brugger, bassist Rüdiger Linhof, and drummer Florian "Rakete" Weber derived the name from their former soccer instructor Hans Stiller, adding "Sportfreunde" (German for "sports friends") when a rival band laid claim to the Stiller name. The group issued its debut EP, Macht Doch Was Ihr Wollt, Ich Geh Jetzt shortly after forming, with the follow-up, Thonträger, appearing two years later. Sportfreunde Spiller issued their first full-length effort, So Wie Einst Real Madrid, in 2000. Its titular emphasis on the beautiful game further cemented the trio's athletic image, and in 2003 "Independent," a track from their sophomore effort, Die Gute Seite, was included on EA Sports' FIFA 2003 video game. The third Sportfreunde Spiller LP, Burli, hit stores in 2004. Two years later, their World Cup-inspired fan anthem "'54, '74, '90, 2006" topped the German charts, and when the German national squad was ousted against eventual champion Italy, the band reworked the song as "'54, '74, '90, 2010" in anticipation of the next World Cup tournament in South Africa. Later that same year, Sportfreunde Stiller was nominated as Best German Act at the annual MTV Europe Music Awards.
Wikipedia:
Sportfreunde Stiller (German pronunciation: [ˈʃpɔʁtfʁɔʏndə ˈʃtɪlɐ]) is a German antifascist rock band from Germering, near Munich, in Bavaria.
The band was founded in 1996 by Peter "Balboa" Brugger (guitar, vocals), Florian "Rakete" Weber (drums, vocals), and Rüdiger "Rüde" Linhof (bass). They took their original name, Stiller, from their former football manager, Hans Stiller, at SV Germering. They later changed their name because a different band called Stiller owned the rights to this name. The term Sportfreunde literally translates to friends in sports and is also used in names of sports clubs (e.g. Sportfreunde Siegen).
Sportfreunde Stiller's track "Independent" from Die gute Seite was featured in the video game FIFA 2003.
In 2006 the band wrote "'54, '74, '90, 2006", a fan hymn for the German World Cup squad which became a number one hit in Germany; the song commemorates West German championships in the 1954, 1974, and 1990 World Cups. After Germany lost in the semi-final against Italy on July 4, 2006, the song was reworked as "'54, '74, '90, 2010" in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Sportfreunde Stiller was nominated for Best German Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Their new album "La Bum" was released on August 3, 2007 (and reached the number 1 spot in Germany) with their single "Alles Roger" debuting on July 20, 2007 (reaching number 22 in Germany). The album title is an anagram on album. The band was also nominated once again for the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards award for German Act of the year.
The entire La Bum album (bonus track edition) was added to the American iTunes store in early 2008.
The song "'54, '74, '90, 2010" is featured as a downloadable track in the game Guitar Hero World Tour.
In 2009, Sportfreunde Stiller was the sixth German band to record an album for the MTV Unplugged series. The album includes adaptations of old songs, covered songs and new songs alike. Although titled MTV Unplugged in New York, the album was actually recorded during a concert at Bavaria Film Studios, Munich.
