# List of Accept band members

Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen. Formed in 1976, the group originally featured lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, bassist Peter Baltes, lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, drummer Frank Friedrich and rhythm guitarist Gerhard Wahl. The band's current lineup includes Hoffmann, lead vocalist Mark Tornillo (since 2009), rhythm guitarist Uwe Lulis, drummer Christopher Williams (both since 2015), bassist Martin Motnik and third guitarist Philip Shouse (both since 2019).

## History
### 1976–1994

Accept evolved from an earlier group called Band X, with the first lineup including Wolf Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Udo Dirkschneider, Frank Friedrich and Gerhard Wahl. Wahl was replaced by Jörg Fischer in 1978. After the recording of the group's self-titled debut album, Friedrich left Accept and was replaced by Stefan Kaufmann. Fischer left suddenly after a tour in 1982. He was replaced briefly by Jan Koemmet, followed by Herman Frank shortly before the release of Restless and Wild. Fischer returned to replace Frank shortly after the release of Balls to the Wall.
In 1987, Dirkschneider was fired from Accept and subsequently pursued a solo career under the moniker U.D.O. He was replaced by a succession of temporary vocalists, before the band settled on David Reece and released Eat the Heat in 1989. Fischer left again before the recording of the album. Jim Stacey joined on rhythm guitar for the album's promotional tour, which also saw Ken Mary take over from Kaufmann after the regular drummer suffered a back injury. Accept subsequently decided to disband, after increasing differences with Reece and Kaufmann's injury. By 1992, the band had returned with a lineup of Dirkschneider, Hoffmann, Baltes and Kaufmann, releasing Objection Overruled the next year. Kaufmann was forced to leave again after the release of Death Row, with Stefan Schwarzmann taking his place.

### Since 1994

After the Death Row touring cycle, Schwarzmann was replaced by Michael Cartellone, who performed on 1996's Predator. The group disbanded for a second time in 1997. In 2005, Accept returned for a short run of shows in Europe and Japan, with Dirkschneider, Hoffmann and Baltes joined by Frank and Schwarzmann. The tour ended in August, after which Hoffmann claimed that Dirkschneider was preventing a longer reunion for the band. Members returned to other projects until 2009, when a new lineup of Accept was unveiled with vocalist Mark Tornillo in place of Dirkschneider. The group's lineup remained stable until 2014, when Frank and Schwarzmann were fired. Their places were taken in April 2015 by Uwe Lulis and Christopher Williams, respectively. Baltes quit the band in November 2018.
For tour dates in early 2019, Baltes was replaced by Danny Silvestri, who had previously played with the group in 2017. In April, the band brought in Martin Motnik as their new full-time bassist. On 1 November, the band announced that Philip Shouse, previously a touring member, had joined them as their third guitarist, thus making them a sextet.

## Members
### Current

| Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
| Wolf Hoffmann | 1976–19891992–19972005 2009–present | lead guitarbacking vocals | all Accept releases |
| Mark Tornillo | 2009–present | lead vocals | all Accept releases from Blood of the Nations (2010) onwards |
| Uwe Lulis | 2015–present | rhythm guitarbacking vocals | all Accept releases from Restless and Live (2017) onwards |
| Christopher Williams | 2015–present | drumsbacking vocals | all Accept releases from Restless and Live (2017) onwards |
| Martin Motnik | 2019–present | bassbacking vocals | all Accept releases from Too Mean to Die (2021) onwards |
| Philip Shouse | 2019–present | guitar | all Accept releases from Too Mean to Die (2021) onwards |

### Former

| Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
| Peter Baltes | 1976–19891992–199720052009–2018 | bassbacking and occasional lead vocals | all Accept releases to Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017 (2018) |
| Udo Dirkschneider | 1976–19871992–19972005 | lead vocals | all Accept releases from Accept (1979) to All Areas: Worldwide (1997), except Eat the Heat (1989) |
| Frank Friedrich | 1976–1979 | drums | Accept (1979) |
| Gerhard Wahl | 1976–1978 | rhythm guitar | none |
| Jörg Fischer | 1978–19821984–1988 | rhythm guitarbacking vocals | all Accept releases from Accept (1979) to Staying a Life (1990), except Balls to the Wall (1983) and Eat the Heat (1989) |
| Stefan Kaufmann | 1979–19891992–1994 | drumsbacking vocals | all Accept releases from I'm a Rebel (1980) to Death Row (1994)All Areas: Worldwide (1997) |
| Jan Koemmet | 1982 | rhythm guitar | none |
| Herman Frank | 1982–198420052009–2014 | rhythm guitar | Balls to the Wall (1983)Blood of the Nations (2010)Stalingrad (2012)Blind Rage (2014) |
| Michael White | 1987 | lead vocals | none |
| Rob Armitage | 1987–1988 | lead vocals | none |
| David Reece | 1988–1989 | lead vocals | Eat the Heat (1989) |
| Jim Stacey | 1989 | rhythm guitar | none |
| Stefan Schwarzmann | 1994–199520052009–2014 | drums | Death Row (1994) – two tracks onlyall Accept releases from All Areas: Worldwide (1997) to Blind Rage (2014) |
| Michael Cartellone | 1995–1997 | drums | Predator (1996) |

### Touring

| Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
| Ken Mary | 1989 | drums | Mary was hired to finish the Eat the Heat tour due to Stefan Kauffmann's health problems. |
| Danny Silvestri | 20172019 | bass | Silvestri substituted for Baltes at Wacken Open Air 2017, and rejoined after his departure in late 2018. |
| Ava-Rebekah Rahman | 2019–present | violin | Rahman joined the touring lineup of Accept for the Symphonic Terror tour starting in April 2019. |
| Joel Hoekstra | 2024 | guitar | Hoekstra temporarily filled in for Shouse. |

## Lineups

| Period | Members | Releases |
| 1976–1978 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Gerhard Wahl – rhythm guitar Frank Friedrich – drums | none |
| 1978 – early 1979 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Frank Friedrich – drums Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals | Accept (1979) |
| Early 1979 – early 1982 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals | I'm a Rebel (1980) Breaker (1981) |
| Early – mid-1982 | Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals | Restless and Wild (1982) |
| Mid-1982 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jan Koemmet – rhythm guitar | none |
| Late 1982 – early 1984 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar | Balls to the Wall (1983) |
| Early 1984 – mid-1987 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals | Metal Heart (1985) Kaizoku-Ban (1985) Russian Roulette (1986) Staying a Life (1990) |
| 1987 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Michael White – lead vocals | none |
| 1987–1988 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Rob Armitage – lead vocals | none |
| 1988 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals Jörg Fischer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals | none |
| 1988–1989 | Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals | Eat the Heat (1989) |
| 1989 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals Jim Stacey – rhythm guitar | none |
| 1989 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals David Reece – lead vocals Jim Stacey – rhythm guitar Ken Mary – drums | none |
| Band inactive 1989–1992 |||
| 1992–1994 | Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Kaufmann – drums, backing vocals | Objection Overruled (1993) Death Row (1994) |
| 1994–1995 | Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Stefan Schwarzmann – drums | Death Row (1994) – two tracks All Areas: Worldwide (1997) |
| 1995–1997 | Wolf Hoffmann – guitars, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Michael Cartellone – drums | Predator (1996) |
| Band inactive 1997–2005 |||
| 2005 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Udo Dirkschneider – lead vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar Stefan Schwarzmann – drums | none |
| Band inactive 2005–2009 |||
| May 2009 – December 2014 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Herman Frank – rhythm guitar Stefan Schwarzmann – drums Mark Tornillo – lead vocals | Blood of the Nations (2010) Stalingrad (2012) Blind Rage (2014) |
| April 2015 – November 2018 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Peter Baltes – bass, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums | Restless and Live (2017) The Rise of Chaos (2017) Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017 (2018) |
| November 2018 – April 2019 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums | none |
| April – November 2019 | Wolf Hoffmann – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums Martin Motnik – bass, backing vocals | none |
| November 2019 – present | Wolf Hoffman – lead guitar, backing vocals Mark Tornillo – lead vocals Uwe Lulis – rhythm guitar Christopher Williams – drums Martin Motnik – bass, backing vocals Philip Shouse – rhythm guitar | Too Mean to Die (2021) Humanoid (2024) |