History & Biography Doro Pesch was the frontwoman for the Euro metal band Warlock before turning that act into her backing band and dubbing the whole thing Doro Featuring Warlock. She kicked off her solo act in 1989 inheriting Warlock’s contract with Vertigo. Stories abound that she was ambitious enough to relegate her band-mates to the back and herself to the fore or that the name Warlock was trademarked by the German manager of the band (the act had an American manager as well) or that musical differences imploded Warlock. Doro would recall that their manager had tricked them out of the Warlock name and the monicker reverted only after the man's death. Doro had left West Germany for the US previously and subsequently replaced the musicians with Americans. The debut of Doro was thus released by Vertigo/Phonogram. Force Majeure was intended to be the next Warlock album originally. Her eponymous second record was produced by Kiss’ Gene Simmons and was not a success in the USA despite the use of name musicians, outside songwriters, cover versions and the aforementioned producer. Rumours of a casual romance between the two swirled. Doro had earlier hooked up with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. Doro opened for Scorpions in Germany. Doro, Every Mother’s Nightmare and Circus Of Power toured. She was ‘true at heart,’ but Doro’s use of session musicians, outside writers and songsmiths and session players for concerts, especially from the USA, would become a pattern. The resulting albums, like Angels Never Die, would turn out poppy. The song and video Bad Blood, from Angels Never Die, were socially conscious. There was a trend of working in industrial and dance music and remixes with hard rock and heavy metal in the mid-1990s and so Doro also collaborated with dance band Die Krupps. Doro’s attempt at futuristic vibes was 1995’s Machine II Machine, which was followed by the Electric Club Mixes release. These releases were advertised and promoted well by the record company, but sales were not good and Doro was dropped.
Doro appeared at New Jersey Metal Meltdown II in the USA this century. She opened for Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen and began clawing her way back into the consciousness of Americans. When Doro’s father died she flew to Los Angeles to stay with Lemmy for consolation. The two co-wrote music. She played in Russia and had a duet with Sabina Classen of Holy Moses At Wacken in 2001. Doro toured with Saxon, Bonfire and Circle II Circle and organised a 20th anniversary concert in her hometown of Düsseldorf commemorating two decades since the release of Burning The Witches. Former Warlock members appeared and a DVD called 20 Years – A Warrior Soul was the result. The not unusual concert with orchestra followed. Classic Diamonds (2004) featured self-cover versions and it was not the first or last time Doro recorded and played Warlock songs.The Rare Diamonds compilation of Warlock and Doro (1991) featured Warlock songs as well. Destruction’s all-star song The Alliance Of Hellhoundz featured Doro, Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir, Biff Byford, Messiah Marcolin and others in 2005. Doro appeared at the Flight Of The Valkyries show in the USA whose focus was female members. Doro also appeared at Manowar’s Magic Circle Festival. A hometown 25th anniversary concert saw many musicians appear on stage. Old Warlock colleagues were there too. This became 25 Years In Rock... And Still Going Strong. Moonlight Agony went on a mini tour of Denmark with Doro. Benedictum and Doro toured in 2006. Goethe Institute sent several German acts to China, one of which was Doro in 2009. Doro also toured with Merendine Atomiche. The connection here was Chris Caffery. She travelled to The Netherlands for something called Christmas Metal Symphony next. Doro Pesch appeared at Holy Moses’ singer Sabina´s birthday party on stage in Niederkrüchten, Germany. The couple played the songs Celebrate and All We Are. Doro opened for Saxon in 2009 and Motörhead in 2010. There was a concert on the occasion of her 2,500th show on March 13, 2010.
Doro was booked for Metal Female Voices Fest 7, Wacken and Hellfest. Doro also co-wrote a song for Wacken called We Are the Metalheads. Always tireless in her tributes, Doro participated in a benefit concert for the Stand Up And Shout Cancer foundation of Ronnie James Dio. Doro released Under My Skin - A Fine Selection Of Doro Classics in North America through AFM Records on August 14th, 2012. The act appeared at 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise in 2013. Hansi of Blind Guardian and Mille of Kreator were two of the many guests at Doro Pesch’s thirtieth anniversary event. It involved two concerts at CCD-Stadthalle in Düsseldorf, Germany on May 2nd and May 3rd, 2014. 30 Years - Strong & Proud Anniversary Tour came to Canada and the USA in 2014. Pesch launched a Kickstarter campaign to help produce a “high-quality” video for her single Love’s Gone To Hell in 2015. Doro released a German-language demo entitled Für Immer (‘forever’) through her own imprint, Rare Diamonds Productions in late 2017. Rare Diamonds would become the band’s imprint and licensor going forward. The release was named after Doro’s early ballad. Nuclear Blast had the import version of Doro's Raise Your Fist - 30 Years Anniversary Edition available to coincide with the October tour. Metal Church and Doro would tour the USA in April and May 2019. Whiplash, Doro and Flotsam And Jetsam toured next. Doro also gave a drive-in concert during the pandemic in Germany in 2020. Lemmy Forever commemorated the man at Wacken in 2023 with a float and a parade to Lemmy's Bar where some of the man's ashes were placed in an urn and fans treated to a display of his equipment. Doro received a bullet with Lemmy’s ashes. Phil and Mikkey of Motörhead joined Doro on stage that night. Doro’s 2023 album Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud recycled the title of 2016’s Strong And Proud live album. Of course, her 2018 album was named Forever Warriors, Forever United. Doro was booked for ProgPower USA in 2023 where she had performed in 2018. Doro was booked for Milwaukee Metal Festival 2024. Doro announced European touring for all of the summer and autumn of 2024. She was opening for Alice Cooper for a string of dates in October.
Doro has presented heavy metal songs, hard rock songs, commercial balladry, alternative rock, light industrial and German tracks designed to chart in her home country. She has worked with Gene Simmons, Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery, Russ Ballard, Blaze Bayley, Peter Steele, Jürgen Engler and Chris Lietz of Die Krupps, Fred Maher of Scritti Politti, Al Pitrelli and Lemmy among many others. Doro’s mother was managing her fan club. Doro is a supporter of PETA. The band’s purple logo has changed multiple times.
Reviews DORO - CLASSIC DIAMONDS - AFM
Sigh. Where do I begin? Classic Diamonds is a sampler of Doro's past hits and new songs given the orchestral treatment. It is not such a hot idea to begin with, but it gets worse. The songs are synthesized, fiddlized and come across as soft rock pop tunes. Doro was never one to insist on integrity. She marginalized and dumped her band in order to become a solo artist and later hooked up with Gene Simmons of Kiss and so forth to conquer (ha!) the US market and this disc is another one of her silly errors. It is, therefore, probably too late to advise Doro to stop solely selling her sexy image, integrate herself into a song writing band and to become justifiable, but this review should help. Having said that, it is at least a curiosity to hear Udo Dirkschneider perform on a Judas Priest cover. Classic Diamonds? Snooze! - Ali "The Metallian"
DORO - FUR IMMER - SPV
Doro's Forever double DVD is not unlike many of the other music DVDs being released today. Myriad of bands that have a concert or an interview filmed and ready to be processed take advantage of this relatively new format. However, this is likely one of the longer and more complete ones running at around five hours and celebrating 20 years of Doro's career. The DVDs on this particular set include everything one might expect to see. The first DVD starts off with a live show in a cave setting with, perhaps expectedly, the vocals dominating the sound. Then comes the inevitable 'Making Of', where this reviewer couldn't get the subtitles working, followed by a collection of Doro's video clips dating back to the '80s. Every song from All We Are to Love Me In Black to White Wedding is included, accompanied by somewhat odd presentations by Doro herself.
The second DVD, thankfully with working subtitles, features an extensive interview and documentary covering her start in the music business to her plans for the future. Of note are scenes of her going back to visit an early rehearsal space and her hope to someday do an all acoustic album! Other features included are several backstage pass sections and also a 'Doro Down Under' feature.
The biggest appeal of this DVD, as with many of its kinds, is to hardcore fans and as such is recommended for them and perhaps others seeking a comprehensive look at the history of Doro. - Anna Tergel
DORO - WARRIOR SOUL - AFM 
It is hard to figure out why a serious metal fan would like Doro. Ms. Pesch’s brand of syrupy pop metal suffers not necessarily because she tries to sell albums through sex and her image, but because song after song lacks every single ingredient needed to create a respectable, or tolerable, heavy metal album.
Warrior Soul begins badly enough - the commonplace title aside. You’re My Family - undoubtedly about the cliche topic of being close to one’s fans - and Haunted Heart sound like Billy Idol B-sides. The music is undermixed to emphasize Doro’s voice, flat as it is, with the instruments coming across as strictly incidental. In fact, the production sounds like it was done on the cheap. Yet, that is where the real trouble begins. Listen to Doro lip-synching the words “heavy metal thunder” on Thunderspell and you would swear you had never heard those words uttered so emotionlessly. From then on, the album is packed with little commercial slow song ditties with as much content as a vacuum tube. Even the title track, Warrior Soul, is a slow plodding tune. Heaven I See is a slow song. Above The Ashes is another slow number. Shine On ends the album with, you guessed it, another slow song, but not before Doro runs through the gamut of clichés and performs two songs in German (“hit single,” said the A&R man) called In Liebe Und Freundschaft ('in love and friendship') and Ungebrochen ('unbroken'). The latter is Doro’s attempt at occupying the pop punk market.
Most discerning readers let up on reading the review many words ago. If you are one of those who kept on reading then thanks go out to you. It is the least you could do given how I had to listen to this pile of crud in order to complete this review. - Ali “The Metallian”
Interviews
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