Las Vegas Weekly recently caught up with Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker to discuss the band's enduring legacy, their Las Vegas residency, and the band's failed retirement plan. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

As for that “retirement” thing, guitarist Rudolf Schenker says they had every intention of following through: “We were honest about it.” But when they got out on the road, they saw something important that changed their minds. “When we did the farewell tour, [we saw] that we have lots of new fans, young, young fans, [and] 80 percent of [our] Facebook fans were between 18 and 28 years old. It’s a brand new generation, who are maybe really bored by the computer music and they want to see a band onstage,” he says. “They went to YouTube and they were watching the Scorpions (and listening to) the back catalog and they were very much surprised that this band is rocking. I think that’s the situation that pushed us back into the music scene again."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

The Scorpions are currently on the road for twelve North American headlining dates with Mikkey Dee, formerly of Motörhead, sitting in on drums for James Kottak. Kottak is currently on break while he seeks medical attention. Swedish-born Mikkey Dee joined Motörhead in 1992 and is well-respected among the rock and metal community.

Scorpions singer Klaus Meine states: “We would like to continue our Return To Forever tour with James, but we have to realize that his health is priority. We wish James a speedy recovery and he will be back to rock you later in the fall! We look forward to seeing all our fans this month."

Scorpions kicked off the 2016 US leg in May, beginning at Carolina Rebellion in Charlotte, NC on May 6th and including a Las Vegas residency. Full routing below.

May
13 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino           
14 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino                   
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino                  
20 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino                
21 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino                
24 - El Paso, TX - Don Haskins Arena
25 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
28 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma                              
29 - San Antonio, TX - River City Rockfest