[4][6][7] Rock am Ring was originally planned as a one-time festival on the Nürburgring motorsports complex, celebrating the inauguration of a newer, shorter version of the race track in 1985, but due to its commercial success (with 75,000 audience members), it was decided to make the concert an annual event.

3 Doors Down (replacing Chris Cornell, who backed out to record an album[19]), 36 Crazyfists, Against Me!, Airbourne, Alpha Galates, Alter Bridge, Animal Alpha, Babyshambles, Bad Religion, Bedouin Soundclash, the Black Dahlia Murder, Black Stone Cherry, Black Tide, Bloodlights, Booka Shade, Bullet for My Valentine, CSS, Cavalera Conspiracy, Chiodos, Coheed and Cambria, Culcha Candela, Danko Jones, Die Toten Hosen, Dimmu Borgir, Disco Ensemble, Disturbed, Eagles of Death Metal, EL*KE, Fair to Midland, Fettes Brot, Fiction Plane, Filter, Finger Eleven,[20][21] From First to Last, Gavin DeGraw, Gavin Rossdale, High on Fire, HIM, Hot Chip, In Case of Fire, In Flames, Incubus, Infadels, Jimmy Eat World, Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong, Johnossi, Jonathan Davis, Justice, Kate Nash, Kid Rock, Kill Hannah, Lostprophets, Madsen, Manic Street Preachers, Masters of Reality, Metallica, Motörhead, Nightwish, Oomph!, Opeth, Paramore, Pete Murray, Queens of the Stone Age, Rafael Weber, Rage Against the Machine, Rival Schools, Róisín Murphy, Rooney, Rose Tattoo, Saul Williams, Saxon, Seether, Serj Tankian, Silverstein, Simple Plan, Söhne Mannheims, Sonic Syndicate, Sportfreunde Stiller, Stereophonics, Steriogram, Takida, the Fall of Troy, the Fratellis, the Futureheads, the Hellacopters, the Offspring, the Prodigy, the Streets, the Verve, Tokyo Police Club, Turisas and ZOX.

Other bands included 2raumwohnung, Alexisonfire, All That Remains, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Basement Jaxx, Biffy Clyro, Black Stone Cherry, Bloc Party, Bring Me the Horizon, Chester French, Chris Cornell, Dir En Grey, DragonForce, Dredg, Enter Shikari, Esser, Expatriate, Five Finger Death Punch, Flogging Molly, Forbidden Theory, Gallows, Guano Apes, Hollywood Undead, Ich Bin Bunt, Jan Delay & Disko No.

1, Juliette Lewis, Kettcar, Kilians, Killswitch Engage, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Little Man Tate, Machine Head, Madina Lake, Madness, Mando Diao, M.I.A., Middle Class Rut, New Found Glory, Pain, Papa Roach, Peter Bjorn and John, Peter Fox, Phoenix, Polarkreis 18, Razorlight, Reamonn, Scouting for Girls, Selig, Sevendust, Shinedown, Staind, Steadlür, Sugarplum Fairy, the All-American Rejects, the Crave, the Gaslight Anthem, the Kooks, the Rifles, the Script, the Soundtrack of Our Lives (OEOC), the Subways, Tomte, Trivium, Volbeat, White Lies Rock am Ring tickets were sold out by March 26.

Other bands included Disturbed, Alter Bridge, Rob Zombie, Interpol, Avenged Sevenfold, Social Distortion, Volbeat, Beatsteaks, August Burns Red, the BossHoss, Hurts, Korn, Madsen, Mando Diao, the Kooks, Sevendust, In Flames, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, the Devil Wears Prada, Ash and the Gaslight Anthem.

Kings of Leon Mando Diao Social Distortion The Gaslight Anthem Plain White T's We Are Scientists Thees Uhlmann & Band Coldplay Söhne Mannheims The Kooks Hurts Ash The Naked and Famous Morning Parade System of a Down Beatsteaks Volbeat Avenged Sevenfold Hollywood Undead Millencolin Mastodon Acts for the 2012 edition included As I Lay Dying, Anthrax, Awolnation, Billy Talent, Crystal Castles, Deichkind, DevilDriver, Dick Brave and the Backbeats, Die Toten Hosen, Donots, Enter Shikari, Evanescence, Example, Gossip, Gojira, Guano Apes, Kasabian, Keane, Korn, The Koletzkis, Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Lexy & K-Paul, Linkin Park, Machine Head, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, MIA., Motörhead, The Offspring, Opeth, Periphery, Shinedown, Skrillex, Soundgarden, Tenacious D, The Subways, and Trivium.

[23][24] Linkin Park Soundgarden Gossip Kasabian Cypress Hill The Subways Tribes Metallica Billy Talent Tenacious D Refused Enter Shikari Shinedown Gojira Die Toten Hosen The Offspring Dropkick Murphys Dick Brave & The Backbeats Donots King Charles 2013's edition was sold out since the beginning of January, and included acts like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Green Day, The Prodigy, Fettes Brot, Volbeat, Stone Sour, Sportfreunde Stiller, Simple Plan, The Killers, Paramore, All Time Low, Fun., Imagine Dragons, Papa Roach, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Bullet for My Valentine, Amon Amarth, A Day to Remember, Bring Me the Horizon, Asking Alexandria, The Bosshoss, Airbourne, Bush, Hacktivist, The Bloody Beetroots, Hurts, Phoenix, Tocotronic, Biffy Clyro, Stereophonics, Kate Nash, Selig, Bosse, Kraftklub, Bad Religion, Royal Republic, Seeed, Casper, The Wombats, ASAP Rocky, Five Finger Death Punch, Coheed And Cambria, Coal Chamber, Escape the Fate, Newsted and Pierce the Veil Thirty Seconds to Mars Fettes Brot Cro Paramore Fun.

[25] Other bands included Alligatoah, Alter Bridge, Avenged Sevenfold, Babyshambles, Booka Shade, Die Fantastischen Vier, Fall Out Boy, Ghost, Gogol Bordello, Heaven Shall Burn, In Extremo, Jake Bugg, Jan Delay & Disko No.

1, John Newman, Karnivool, Klangkarussell Live, Kvelertak, Left Boy, Mando Diao, Marteria, Mastodon, Maxïmo Park, Milky Chance, Nine Inch Nails, Of Mice & Men, Opeth, Portugal.

[26][27] Iron Maiden The Offspring Pennywise Falling in Reverse Klangkarussell Rudimental Cro Kings Of Leon Mando Diao Kasabian Rea Garvey Jake Bugg John Newman Rival Sons Linkin Park Die Fantastischen Vier Fall Out Boy Alligatoah Kaiser Chiefs The Pretty Reckless 257ers Metallica Avenged Sevenfold Alter Bridge In Extremo Trivium Black Stone Cherry In 2015 the festival moved to a new location, Mendig Air Base Headliners: Foo Fighters, Die Toten Hosen, Slipknot, Motionless in White.

Ice-T, Eagles of Death Metal, Enter Shikari, Godsmack, Hollywood Undead, In Flames, Interpol, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, Motörhead, Papa Roach, Parkway Drive, Pop Evil, Rise Against, Royal Republic, Skindred, Slash, Three Days Grace, Yellowcard and Zebrahead.

Myles Kennedy Interpol Royal Republic Zebrahead Foo Fighters Beatsteaks Bastille Frank Turner Eagles of Death Metal Ruen Brothers Fritz Kalkbrenner Marilyn Manson Clueso Tocotronic Mighty Oaks Jamie T Ms Mr Tüsn Marsimoto Deichkind

Prinz Pi Trailerpark Bilderbuch Feine Sahne Fischfilet Antilopen Gang Zugezogen Maskulin Sondaschule Slipknot Motörhead In Flames Parkway Drive Lamb of God Papa Roach Godsmack The festival was cancelled during the second day due to severe thunderstorms.