Rammstein’s Till Lindemann Ordered to Pay Over $690,000 After Concert Cancellation in Russia

Till Lindemann, the lead vocalist of German rock band Rammstein, has been ordered to pay over $690,000 (67 million rubles) by the International Commercial Arbitration Court under the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to TASS, the case involved the cancellation of a planned performance in Tver, Russia, in August 2021.

The concert was scheduled as part of the “Maklarin for the Motherland” festival at the Afanasy Brewery in Tver. The Russian company LLC “Prime Marketing” paid Lindemann in full for a 70-minute performance. However, the artist did not take the stage and failed to return the payment. The court ruled the case as one of “unjust enrichment.”

In addition to the principal amount, Lindemann was ordered to pay over $3,000 in interest and approximately $34,500 in legal fees.

The cancellation occurred amidst COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings in Tver. Reports indicate that Russian authorities visited Lindemann at his hotel before the event, notifying him of the restrictions. Following the visit, Lindemann’s team announced the concert’s cancellation, citing an inability to access the venue due to government-imposed limitations.

Earlier, Russian state-controlled TV channels, including Channel One, VGTRK, and NTV, demanded an astronomical 2 undecillion rubles (approximately $22.1 trillion) from Google for blocking their YouTube accounts. The court imposed escalating fines on Google, starting at 100,000 rubles daily, doubling weekly, with no cap, unless the channels are restored.