After the release of their next album (Sting in the Tail, release date: March 23rd, Universal Music Enterprises) and a three-year mammoth tour, which will take them across five continents, one of the most successful rock bands in the world, SCORPIONS, will be ending their career. The band broke the news on their website on Sunday.

“While we were working on our album these past few months, we could literally feel how powerful and creative our work was – and how much fun we were still having, in the process,” said KLAUS MEINE. “We want to end the SCORPION’s extraordinary career on a high note. We are extremely gracious for the fact that we still have the same passion for music we’ve always had since the beginning.” “So at some point,” added guitarist MATTHIAS JABS, “it came to us to end our career with this exceptional album.” RUDOLF SCHENKER stated, “The three year tour through five continents is meant to be a huge blowout, where we can party with our fans and say good-bye.” “When I started out, I had a lot of wishes,” SCHENKER noted. “It’s crazy, I achieved more than I ever even dreamed of.”

During their 40-year career, SCORPIONS sold over 100 million albums and received many awards, such as the World Music Award and several Echos–the German comparison to the Grammy. Today they still play sold-out venues around the world. Not long ago, 152,000 South Americans came to 15 SCORPIONS concerts between Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City. Their song “Wind of Change” has become an anthem for the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The tour will launch in the band’s home country Germany in May. After that, they will be touring through North America before they continue their journey through five other continents until 2012.