In a recent conversation with Rock Interview Series, Uli John Roth said he left Scorpions because he found their music ‘too easy.’
In the ’70s, Scorpions had a harder rock sound than their later commercial success, and Roth played a key role in it with his playing. He contributed to albums like ‘Fly to the Rainbow,’ ‘In Trance,’ and ‘Tokyo Tapes’ but exited the band in 1978 to pursue his solo career.
Why Did He Want To Pursue A Different Path?
So, he failed to see the band become even more famous. Still, the guitarist doesn’t regret his decision since he knows his time with the band was up. He talked about his reasons for leaving:
“My main motivation was always of artistic nature. It was clear the band was going to be massive. We already had our first gold albums and stuff like that. But I just didn’t really have a choice. I needed to do my thing because I needed to go on that journey, that different artistic journey. And the Scorpions thing, I had a lot of freedom there, but I didn’t really feel artistically challenged anymore.”
His Life After Scorpions
In an interview with Classic Rock last year, the musician once more said that he was okay with his decision to depart from Scorpions at the time. He looked back on his time with the band:
“Those were great times. The comradeship grew as the band improved, and we made quantum leaps with each album. When I left, it was because I knew there was no place for the songs that became ‘Earthquake.’ It wasn’t as commercial as the Scorpions, but although Electric Sun was an ‘outsider’ band, we played Hammersmith Odeon twice, so I like to think we did pretty well.”
Roth was also not interested In Scorpions’ big success after his exit because he was doing okay with his own life and career, as he told Eonmusic last year in October:
“I heard the Scorpions were successful, but I didn’t really follow up on any of it. I didn’t really listen to any of the albums, etc. It was a part of my life, which, back then, I had left completely behind. I just did my own thing and was quite content in my own Electric Sun bubble, which lasted till 1985. Then, in 1986, I started to go purely into the classical realm, starting to write concertos and stuff like that, and that occupied me for many years.”
After leaving Scorpions, Uli formed his own band, Electric Sun, and released three albums between 1979 and 1985. Then, he continued his career as a solo musician, and in 2015, he dropped ‘Scorpions Revisited’ featuring the early Scorpions material.
You can watch his whole interview below.
