Rammstein has sold over 25 million records worldwide, with five of their albums receiving platinum status, and Lindemann has been listed among the "50 Greatest Metal Frontmen of All Time" by Roadrunner Records. Lindemann has also appeared in minor roles in films and has published three books of poetry. He has presented some of his original poems and scripts to galleries.
In , Lindemann participated in the European Junior Swimming Championships in Florence , finishing 11th in the m freestyle and 7th in the m freestyle, swimming a time of 4'17"58 ; he was shortlisted to go to the Olympics in Moscow , [ 6 ] but left the sport due to an injury. But as a child you don't object. Lindemann started to play drums for Schwerin-based experimental rock band First Arsch in , [ 12 ] who released an album titled Saddle Up in , and played one song "Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend" with a punk band called Feeling B , which was the former band of Rammstein members Paul Landers , Christoph Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz in In , the band entered and won a contest in Berlin that allowed them to record a four track demo professionally.
When questioned as to why Rammstein was named after the Ramstein air show disaster , [ 13 ] he said he viewed images of the incident on television, and that he and the bandmates wanted to make a musical memorial. Lindemann then moved to Berlin. During Rammstein's early years, because of his use of over-the-top pyrotechnics, Lindemann burned his ears, hair and arms. In , the band was blamed for the Columbine massacre , but they denied their music was a factor.
It consists of 54 poems compiled by Gert Hof, author of the book Rammstein , who was also the band's pyrodesigner for the last seven years. Lindemann is not a stranger to injury, as he mentioned in Rammstein's early career that he'd gotten burned several times with unprofessionally rigged pyrotechnics.
In , five Rammstein albums received platinum awards and the band also received the "World Sales Awards" for over 10 million sold copies worldwide.
