26 Facts About Richard Kruspe

Richard Kruspe was born on Sven Kruspe; 24 June 1967 and is a German musician.

Richard Kruspe is best known as one of the founders and the lead guitarist of the band Rammstein, as well as the frontman of the industrial metal band Emigrate.

Sven Richard Kruspe was born in Wittenberge, then part of East Germany.

Richard Kruspe later changed his first name to Richard, believing that anyone should be able to change their name if they want to.

Richard Kruspe's parents divorced when he was young, and his mother remarried.

Richard Kruspe did not get along with his stepfather, who would be physically abusive, and Kruspe often ran away from home in his early teens.

Richard Kruspe then met a girl who saw him with the guitar and insisted he play something.

When Richard Kruspe hit random notes in frustration, the girl commented that it sounded "beautiful" and the moment would inspire him to learn how to play guitar.

Richard Kruspe later studied jazz guitar at the conservatorium in Schwerin for four years.

On 10 October 1989, Richard Kruspe found himself in the middle of a political demonstration after exiting a subway station.

Richard Kruspe was then hit on the head by police and arrested.

Richard Kruspe spent the next six days in jail where he was interrogated and beaten by authorities.

Richard Kruspe was a member of First Arsch with singer and drummer Till Lindemann and guitarist Paul Landers.

In 1992, Richard Kruspe traveled to the southwest of the United States together with Lindemann and bassist Oliver Riedel.

In 1993, Richard Kruspe formed a new project with roommates Riedel and drummer Christoph Schneider named Tempelprayers.

Richard Kruspe married South African actress Caron Bernstein on 29 October 1999.

The ceremony was Jewish, and Richard Kruspe composed the music for it.

Richard Kruspe took the last name Kruspe-Bernstein during their marriage.

Richard Kruspe moved from Berlin to New York in 2001 to live closer to Bernstein and work on his side-project Emigrate.

Richard Kruspe has been an endorser of ESP Guitars since 1996.

Richard Kruspe bought his first ESP guitar, a sunburst 901 model, in 1990.

Richard Kruspe primarily used 901 models and Kirk Hammett signature model guitars for recording and touring until ESP produced his signature model guitars the ESP RZK-I in the mid-2000s and the RZK-II in the early 2010s.

Richard Kruspe uses other ESP guitars, including Eclipse models and a Ron Wood signature model, in the studio.

Richard Kruspe was previously endorsed by EMG and was a long-time user of EMG 81 pickups before switching to Fishman in 2018 and joining their Fluence artist roster in 2023.

Richard Kruspe uses the Kemper Profiler in the studio and live.

Richard Kruspe has a signature guitar pick and a signature string set through Dunlop and SIT Strings respectively.