Fools Garden (until 2003 known as Fool's Garden) is a German band formed in 1991 in the city of Pforzheim.[1] The founders of the group and the only permanent members are vocalist Peter Freudenthaler and guitarist Volker Hinkel.[2] In 1993, bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele were invited to join Fool's Garden for recording of the first studio album Once in a Blue Moon.
The band became famous worldwide in 1995 owing to the release of their second studio album Dish of the Day and, in particular, the song "Lemon Tree", which entered numerous music charts around the world and topped five of them. However, Fool's Garden was never able to repeat the success of their only hit.[3] A series of failures to replicate the commercial success of Dish of the Day in 1997, 2000 and 2003 resulted in tension and disagreement amongst the band's members, and dramatically discredited its reputation in the eyes of record label executives.[4][5] Consequently, Mangold, Röhl, and Wochele left Fool's Garden in 2003, but a year later new musicians joined the band. To signify the change, it was decided to remove the apostrophe from the band's name on their next album, Ready for the Real Life. Due to the problems caused by the lack of a label ready to work with Fools Garden, the members of the band founded their own company Lemonade Music in 2004.[5]
Fools Garden's musical style has been characterized as pop rock, soft rock, Britpop and some other genres. Critics have noted the influence of such artists as The Beatles, Sting, and The Who.[6] The group may be classified as a one-hit wonder.
Since its formation in 1991, the band has released 9 studio albums, received 12 music awards, and played over a thousand live performances. The bands's total sales have exceeded 6 million copies.[7] Up to the present, Fools Garden continues concert activity and gives performances all over the world.[8][9][10] The band performs both in complete line-up and as a duo (Hinkel/Freudenthaler) or a trio (Hinkel/Freudenthaler/Holz).[10][11]
