Original Accept singer Udo Dirkschneider has disputed guitarist Wolf Hoffmann’s claim that he was asked to contribute to the band’s 50th-anniversary album, saying in an interview with The Metal Voice that Hoffmann never contacted him directly.
Hoffmann has stated in interviews that Dirkschneider was among several former Accept members offered a chance to appear on the anniversary release. Dirkschneider addressed these claims and explained what he says actually happened.
“No. Not me. That’s completely wrong,” Dirkschneider said. “Oh, I have to say something about this. I think Peter [Baltes, former Accept bassist] and Stefan [Kaufmann, former Accept drummer] were asked by Wolf [to participate].”
“But they said, in a way, no. And Wolf is talking about [in interviews that] he was also asking me [to appear on the album]. He never asked me personally or by management.”
Dirkschneider went on to criticize Hoffmann for making public statements about the matter without his agreement. “I don’t like stuff like that. [He] put something in medias, social medias and blah, blah, blah [about me turning down his invitation to appear on the album], and this is not true,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I say yes or no, but don’t tell something like this. This is not… I don’t know. I don’t like stuff like that.”
Dirkschneider made his comments while discussing Hoffmann’s recent statements about the anniversary album release.
The dispute centers on Accept’s 50th-anniversary album “Teutonic Titans 1976-2026,” which was released on September 4, 2026. Hoffmann revealed that the band had reached out to former members about contributing to the project, but according to Dirkschneider, neither he nor other former members like Baltes and Kaufmann were directly invited by the guitarist.
The anniversary album features contributions from Billy Corgan, Sebastian Bach, and members of Judas Priest, Scorpions, Ghost, Pantera, Overkill, Testament, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Exodus. Hoffmann’s public claims about who was asked to participate have now drawn direct contradiction from Dirkschneider, who says the guitarist misrepresented the facts in media and social media.
Tensions between Dirkschneider and Hoffmann run deep. Dirkschneider was one of Accept’s original members from the band’s formation in 1976 and sang for the group until 1987, then returned from 1992 to 1997. In March 2026, Dirkschneider stated he no longer had a relationship with Hoffmann, and in April 2022 he said he had no contact with the guitarist in recent years. Long-standing friction between Hoffmann and members of Dirkschneider’s circle has contributed to their distance over the decades.
