Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen, formed in 1976 by lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, singer Udo Dirkschneider and bassist Peter Baltes.

Their current lineup consists of Hoffmann, vocalist Mark Tornillo, guitarists Uwe Lulis and Philip Shouse, drummer Christopher Williams and bassist Martin Motnik.

Quick frontman Mark Tornillo replacing Dirkschneider (who declined to participate),[5] and the band has recorded six albums with him: Blood of the Nations (2010), Stalingrad (2012), Blind Rage (2014), The Rise of Chaos (2017), Too Mean to Die (2021), and Humanoid (2024); those albums renewed Accept's popularity in Germany and entered the top ten charts there.

The first stable line-up of Accept was composed of vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich.

Friedrich and Wahl quit the band after the release of Accept and were replaced by Stefan Kaufmann and Jörg Fischer.

The same year, Accept served as a supporting act on Judas Priest's World Wide Blitz Tour, and obtained attention outside of Europe for the first time.

[10][11] Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band's sound, which incorporated characteristics defining the genre later dubbed speed metal.

[15] Supporting this decision, the songwriting team in Accept wrote his entire solo album, released in 1987 as Animal House under the band moniker U.D.O.

Accept toured in support of the album that year with bands like Metal Church, W.A.S.P., Danzig and Armored Saint.

[17][18] Accept's career came to a sudden halt when Stefan Kaufmann sustained a serious injury to his back during the tour in support of the album.

Kaufmann became unable to play once again due to his recurring back injury and Stefan Schwarzmann became the temporary replacement.

These festivals turned out to be a stunning success, with the last show on 27 August 2005 in Kavarna, Bulgaria, at the Kaliakra Rock Fest.

Asked in May 2007 by Lords of Metal if Accept was planning on writing and recording new music in the future, Dirkschneider replied: That would be a problem.

[20] At the end of May 2009, rumors again surfaced of a possible Accept reformation, when bassist Peter Baltes revealed he spent a weekend at his house in Pennsylvania "shredding away" with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann.

[5] A new album was written and recorded with Andy Sneap (of Megadeth, Sabbat, BLAZE, Exodus, Testament, Arch Enemy and Onslaught fame) as producer.

[21] The new line-up made their live debut on 8 May 2010 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, their first American concert in fifteen years.

With a set of over two hours, classics like "Balls to the Wall", "Metal Heart" and "Princess of the Dawn" were played along with the new album material.

In October, the band appeared at the prestigious Japanese festival Loud Park outside of Tokyo to 40,000 fans along with Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead and Stone Sour.

Within a month of the release of Blood of the Nations, Wolf Hoffmann told "Metal Asylum": "We are already thinking about and writing for the next record.

"[26] Four months later, on 9 August at the Bloodstock Open Air festival 2013, Wolf told Metal Shock Finland: Our upcoming album is hopefully going to be out next year.

[27][28]Accept released their fourteenth studio album Blind Rage on 15 August 2014 and on their world tour, they played in Australia for the very first time.

[33] On 5 June 2015, prior to the band's performance at the South Park festival in Tampere, Finland, bassist Peter Baltes told Kaaos TV that Accept planned to begin work on a new album after the conclusion of the Blind Rage tour.

[40][41] In a September 2018 interview with The Foundry, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann confirmed that Accept had begun the songwriting process for the follow-up to The Rise of Chaos.

He stated, "We started putting down some riffs here and there, but the majority of the stuff will happen after we stop touring because it's really hard to do this on the road for me.

[43] Baltes was filled in on bass by Danny Silvestri for the band's performance at the 2019 edition of the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise.

On 16 April 2019, former Uli Jon Roth sideman Martin Motnik was announced as Baltes' permanent replacement.

[44] Three days later, Accept released a special seven-inch single called "Life's a Bitch", which was their first song in two years and first one without Baltes.

[56] Accept has been cited as an influence or inspiration by a number of acts, including Metallica,[57][58][59][60][61] Megadeth,[59][62][63] Slayer,[59][63] Pantera,[57][58][59][60] Testament,[57][58][64] Anthrax,[58][65][66] Guns N' Roses,[59][61][62][67] Mötley Crüe,[59][67][68] Alice in Chains,[59][60][61] Soundgarden,[59][60] Overkill,[59] Exodus,[59] and Annihilator,[69] as well as fellow Germans such as Helloween,[57][58][70] Blind Guardian,[58][59] Doro,[71] Sodom,[57][72][73] Rage,[58][59] and Grave Digger.