Rammstein's 10 Biggest Controversies

For all of the fire shooting from the stage itself, band members’ mic stands and masks, as well as what often amount to stage-ready flamethrowers, Rammstein’s most talked-about stage effect is less about fire and more about water.

A pump connected to a tube that feeds into a fake penis that vocalist Till Lindemann tugs through his zipper during Bück dich sprays the crowd and his band mates with water and liquor as he “simulates anal sex” with keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz. If you’re not a Rammstein fan and you’ve made it this far - yes, you did read that correctly.

Rammstein - you either think they’re ridiculous and stupid or ridiculous and amazing.

The police of Worcester, Massachusetts thought the former in June 1999 when the stage effect saw the two aforementioned members of the group spending a night in jail and each fined $200 for “lascivious” behaviour. It was culture shock for the Germans, who still had much to learn about America’s conversatism and authorities. Throughout the remainder of the tour, Lindemann and Lorenz had to repeatedly fly back to Worcester for court proceedings.

In the following years, Bück dich vanished from the band’s regular setlist rotation for nearly a whole decade. The band laments in their 2011 Made in Germany documentary that, with a public record, anytime Rammstein returns to the USA, certain members have to go through extra screenings and interrogations to this day.