Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Michael Naura,
Knut Kiesewetter). In 1970, he collaborated as a drummer with jazz saxophonist
Klaus Doldinger in
Munich. In 1971
Passport, a band founded by Doldinger, released its first album, with Lindenberg on drums. He also played drums for the theme music for the German TV series
Tatort. The first
LP by the
jazz rock group Emergency was released in 1971, but met with little commercial success. The LP
Lindenberg (also 1971, sung in English, with Steffi Stephan on bass) was likewise unsuccessful. (lyrics: Lindenberg, Horst Königstein). One of Lindenberg's most famous songs is "
Sonderzug nach Pankow" (Special train service to Pankow), an adaptation of "
Chattanooga Choo Choo", released as a single on 2 February 1983. It originated from the refusal of eastern German authorities to allow Lindenberg to perform in the GDR. On 25 October 1983, Lindenberg was finally allowed to perform for 15 minutes in the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin. In September 1987, he presented a custom Ibanez guitar to the then East German leader,
Erich Honecker, during his visit to the West German city of
Wuppertal. On 3 June 2011, Lindenberg performed at
Kampnagel unplugged. The recording was later released as an album within the
MTV Unplugged series. Lindenberg was the eighth German artist in that series. The album became the second No. 1 album for Lindenberg, awarded platinum status for 200,000 units sold after two weeks. The second single from the album "Cello" (feat.
Clueso) went to No. 4, giving Lindenberg the highest chart position in
German singles charts ever. Lindenberg has worked collaboratively with various local and international recording artists such as
Eric Burdon,
Helen Schneider,
David Bowie,
Tom Robinson,
Keith Forsey,
Gianna Nannini,
Ellen ten Damme and
Nena on a number of projects. Lindenberg has been living in the
Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg since 1995, except for a short break during
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. His somewhat hoarse voice is according to his own statement caused by his consumption of
whisky and
cigars. In 1989, he survived a
heart attack. In 2010, he designed two
postage stamps, based on his songs "Andrea Doria" and "Sonderzug nach Pankow", for the
Deutsche Post. For 2014, Lindenberg announced his first stadium tour in Germany. From 1 February to 2 April 2015, an exhibition entitled "Porsche.Panic.Power" took place in the
Porsche Museum in
Zuffenhausen and showed numerous items from Lindenberg's private collection. Lindenberg opened the exhibition with a concert in the museum. Lindenberg features in the 2016 book
Panikherz by
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre. Stuckrad-Barre recounts how Lindenberg helped him move away from a destructive lifestyle. In February 2023, "
Komet", his track with rapper
Apache 207, reached number one in the German single charts, which is Lindenberg's first number one single in German charts. ==Discography==