Roland Grapow

Roland Grapow, born August 30th, 1959 in Hamburg, Germany is a professional guitarist. Roland is most well known for his time in the power metal band Helloween, who he played with for for 12 years after replacing founding member Kai Hansen. Roland played on several Hellowen albums - from Pink Bubbles Go Ape to The Dark Ride. During his time with Helloween Roland also formed a solo project. The first release, The Four Seasons of Life, featured members of Helloween playing backup, with Roland trying his hand at singing in addition to guitar playing. On the second album, Kaleidoscope, current and former members of Yngwie Malmsteen's band were utilised. In 2001, Roland and bandmate Uli Kusch were fired from Helloween due to musical and personal differences with guitarist Michael Weikath. The side project they had been planning, Masterplan, instead became their new full-time band.