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Roland Grapow
(guitars, 1988 - 2001)
Born: August 30. 1959 | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 165 lbs.
After Kai Hansen left Helloween in late 1988, Roland Grapow was brought in from the band Rampage to be his replacement. A little known fact is that Roland actually finished off the "Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II" tour with the rest of the band. He wrote a handful of songs for the "Pink Bubbles Go Ape" and "Chameleon" releases that showed his flare for writing excellent music. After Andi Deris and Uli Kusch joined the band in 1994, Roland enjoyed a revitalized streak of success with the band. The new lineup stuck together for seven years, releasing "Master Of The Rings," "The Time Of The Oath," "Better Than Raw," "Metal Jukebox," and "The Dark Ride" along the way. In between, Roland found time to release two solo albums: "The Four Seasons Of Life" in 1997 and "Kaleidoscope" in 1999. Things seemed to be going well for everybody within the band. However, shortly after "The Dark Ride" tour, both Roland and Uli were asked to leave the band. It was felt that they were concentrating too much on their solo project which has now blossomed into a full-fledged band. Joined by Jorn Lande (Ark) on vocals, Jan-S. Eckert (Iron Savior) on bass, and Axel Mackenrott on the keyboards, Roland and Uli saw their new band Masterplan's debut album released in early 2003.