Doro Pesch, the German metal singer, has shared accounts of challenging periods in her life, including her time in New York during the 1980s. Speaking to the “Welt” and “Rolling Stone,” Pesch revealed that the record label had assigned her a personal coach back then who strictly managed her daily routine.
“He was a real grinder,” Pesch stated about the coach. “He was there, he tormented me. So every morning I had to dance at half-past six. And then we would do hours of sport.” According to her own account, smoking was forbidden, and her diet was restricted to “only salad.” She described the experience as “hell. It was hell.”
Pesch was attempting to achieve international success with her band Warlock at the time, and the album “Triumph and Agony” recorded in New York became the band’s greatest hit. However, she felt that the record label’s demands conflicted with her fundamental understanding of Heavy Metal. “I simply wanted to make my own music,” she explained. “For me, metal has always been about freedom.”
The pressure became so intense that Pesch occasionally fled her daily life. “Sometimes my nerves were shot,” she recalled. “Then I got so fed up that I just ran away and spent the nights in the subway with the homeless.” To avoid being recognized as a young woman, she would pull up a hoodie and draw a small mustache on her face. She felt safe and accepted among the homeless community. “They were so kind, all the homeless people.” Together, they would talk about where to find food, where to wash up, and how to warm up during the cold New York winter.
Pesch also recounted a serious illness from her youth. At the age of about 14 or 15, she was diagnosed with advanced pulmonary tuberculosis and admitted to a clinic. She described the conditions there as drastic. “It was like a Romanian orphanage. The people were tied up, there was a cage by the window, and I thought I was going to die. I knew I was dying.”
Pesch explained that she was kept tranquilized by medication. Her personal belongings were divided among other patients. Eventually, her mother managed to get her out of the clinic, overcoming resistance from doctors and nursing staff. They only released them when her mother threatened to go to the press. “Suddenly, nobody held onto my Mom anymore, nobody held onto me anymore, and they let us run.”
Her mother then moved her to another hospital, where Pesch was treated for approximately nine months, according to her memories. During this period, she made a firm resolve: “If I ever came out of there alive, I was going to do something with my life; I wanted to make people happy.” Just two weeks after her discharge, Pesch stated that she founded her first band.
