Loading AI tools
German guitarist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
André Olbrich (born 3 May 1967)[1] is a German musician, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of power metal band Blind Guardian, in which he serves as one of the main composers with other founder Hansi Kürsch.
![]() |
André Olbrich | |
---|---|
![]() Olbrich in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Born | Düsseldorf, West Germany | 3 May 1967
Genres | Power metal, speed metal, heavy metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument | Guitar |
Years active | 1984–present |
Olbrich was ranked number 76 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World.[2] He is also ranked number 64 in Joel McIver's The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Olbrich's guitar work often reflects vocalist Hansi Kürsch's singing.
Olbrich's style is influenced by his favourite bands, which include Queen, Judas Priest, Metallica and Black Sabbath. Additionally, Olbrich relies heavily on staccato technique.
Olbrich's gear[3]
He is believed to use Marshall amps for his distortion/lead riffs:
In 2020, Russian malacologist Alexander Fedosov named four new species of Clavus canalicularis mollusk in honour of four rock guitarists. One of them, Clavus andreolbrichi, was named in honour of Andre Olbrich.[4][5]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.