Scorpions are a German hard rock band formed in Hanover in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. The longest-running and most successful line-up of the band included Schenker, Klaus Meine (vocals), Matthias Jabs (lead guitar), Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums), and lasted from 1978 to 1992. The band's only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has been with the band continuously since 1969, while Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978 and bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band, since 2003 and 2016, respectively.

The band's debut album, Lonesome Crow (1972), featured Schenker's younger brother Michael on lead guitar, before he departed to join UFO. He was replaced by Uli Jon Roth, who played with the band on their next four studio albums, Fly to the Rainbow (1974), In Trance (1975), Virgin Killer (1976) and Taken by Force (1977), and their first live album Tokyo Tapes (1978). Following Roth's departure, the band recruited Matthias Jabs and began moving towards a more melodic rock style on their sixth studio album Lovedrive (1979), which also saw Scorpions reunite briefly with Michael Schenker before he left again to begin a solo career. Over the next decade, the band achieved influence, approval from music critics, and significant commercial success with the albums Animal Magnetism (1980), Blackout (1982), Love at First Sting (1984), the live album World Wide Live (1985), Savage Amusement (1988), the compilation album Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads (1989) and Crazy World (1990), all of which are certified at least platinum in the United States. The band has released thirteen consecutive studio albums that were in the top 10 in Germany, one of which reached No. 1, as well as three consecutive albums that were in the top 10 in the Billboard 200 in the United States. Their latest studio album, Rock Believer, was released in February 2022.

Scorpions are estimated to have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling hard rock and heavy metal bands. One of their most recognized hits is "Wind of Change" (from Crazy World), a symbolic anthem of the political changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it remains as one of the best-selling singles in the world with over 14 million copies. Two songs from their ninth studio album Love at First Sting, "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Still Loving You", are regarded as some of the most influential and popular works, both in heavy metal music and among rock ballads, defined as "rock anthem" and "a true hymn of love", respectively.

Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm/lead guitarist, launched the band in 1965. Initially the band had Merseybeat influences and Schenker himself handled the vocals. He played in a band with Lothar Heimberg before he founded Scorpions. Karl Heinz Vollmer left the band in 1967 because of his military obligations; military service precluded him from performing in concerts. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine, who had played together in the Led Zeppelin and Taste cover band Copernicus, joined the band. With this line-up they won a music contest in 1972 and recorded two songs for a single that was never released on the CCA label, but the songs, "Action" and "I'm Going Mad" were later released on different compilation albums including Psychedelic Gems 2.

In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album, Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums and re-recorded their CCA songs. During the Lonesome Crow tour Scorpions opened for up-and-coming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, guitarist Michael Schenker accepted an offer to play lead guitar for UFO. Uli Jon Roth, a friend of Michael's, was then introduced to the band and he helped them to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role of lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road. Rudolf Schenker eventually decided he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions line-up. He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jürgen Rosenthal (drums). Uli Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well known on the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name.

In 1974, the new line-up released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track established the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was drafted into the army (he later joined German progressive rock band Eloy, recording three albums). Rosenthal was replaced in July 1974 by Jürgen Fechter, and then in 1975 Rudy Lenners from Belgium became the band's next drummer.

That year, the band released In Trance, which marked the beginning of their long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for the Scorpions and established their heavy metal formula. It garnered a fan base at home and abroad with cuts such as "In Trance", "Dark Lady" and "Robot Man".