In a new interview with Deutsche Welle, Scorpions singer Klaus Meine, guitarist Rudolf Schenker and lead guitarist Matthias Jabs talk about saying farewell to the farewell, the challenges of unplugged concerts, the band's upcoming 50th anniversary, the DW documentary film Forever And A Day and the album they're currently working on.

Q: In 2010, you announced you would end your career together after a three-year farewell tour. In early 2013 came the decision to keep going. Why?

Klaus Meine: "When you start a three-year farewell tour, you know you've got a long time ahead of you. But that long period went by much faster than we imagined. The closer we got to the goal - Munich in December 2012 - the stronger the feeling was that we hadn't come to the end at all. There were so many images in our minds and so many emotions in our hearts. Everything we experienced between 2010 and 2012, the 200 concerts - it was all so powerful. You stand on stage, look down and see so many fans - including the younger generation, who are really getting into it and saying: 'Guys, this is so cool. We're seeing you for the first time. When will you be back?' It's so motivating and inspiring to play for three generations. We're all having too much fun to put down the guitars."

Rudolf Schenker: "The success of the farewell tour bowled us over. When you see you've got a whole new generation in front of you - lots of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds - then you get a whole new kick out of it. Essentially, we announced the farewell tour because we didn't want to be standing on stage and not able to deliver what people expected from us."

Matthias Jabs: "At first, there were plenty of arguments in favor of stopping. But we were quickly overshadowed by the feeling of how much fun it all is. It doesn't matter where we went, the shows were packed - in South America, the US, throughout Europe. So, we just thought: This can't really be the end."

Read the complete interview at this location.