Rage, the heavy metal trio from the Ruhr Valley, have been thrilling their fans since the 1980s. To date, more than 15 albums by frontman Peter "Peavy" Wagner and his fellow musicians have hit the charts in Japan. It’s a feat equaled by no other German band.

In 1992, singer Tobias Sammet and three of his schoolmates founded Edguy, naming it after their physics teacher, Edgar. Since then, the band from Hesse has rocked venues the world over and sold two million records. But that doesn't seem to be enough for band leader Sammet. For the past several years, he's also worked on his rock opera project Avantasia.

Crossover rock from Göttingen: the Guano Apes have made it big with powerful melodies and a singer with a husky voice. Their 1997 album "Proud Like a God" was one of the best-selling English language debut works to come out of Germany. The band broke up in 2005 due to personal differences, but singer Sandra Nasić and her boys have been back together again since 2010.

Blind Guardian have fans in Europe, Asia and the US. Founded in 1987 in Krefeld, they've had eight albums in the international charts. Their hallmark: orchestral metal arrangements and lyrics inspired by fantasy novels such as "The Lord of the Rings," as well as the books behind the TV series "Game of Thrones."

In 1988, German singer and guitarist Kai Hansen left the group Helloween and founded Gamma Ray. The north German power metal band has rocked the international charts with many albums since then. "Land of the Free" was especially successful in Germany, Japan and Sweden.

Accept have been around since 1971, with a hiatus or two in between. That makes them one of the longest-ever running German rock bands. Udo Dirkschneider was Accept's original vocalist. After changing line-ups, the band’s now scoring successes with American singer Mark Tornillo. In 2014 Accept topped the German charts for the first time - with "Blind Rage," their 14th studio album.

Tokio Hotel blossomed from a German-language teen quartet from Magdeburg to a globally acclaimed pop rock act. In 2009, they released both a German and an English version of their third album "Humanoid." It got into the top 10 in several countries and also hit the charts in the US.

When it comes to heavy metal, Helloween are among Germany's top exports. The Hamburg-based musicians have been thrashing their guitars since the 1980s. They soon made a name for themselves with their two-part album "Keeper of the Seven Keys." Their album "My God-Given Right" swept the charts in Europe and Japan in 2015.

Rammstein are the bad boys among the rock acts. Despite singing in German, they sell millions of records around the world. Individual band members have also had successful side projects - like Lindemann's "Skills in Pills." With it, Rammstein singer Till Lindemann and Swedish mulit-instrumentalist Peter Tägtgren stormed the charts from the UK to Australia in 2015.

No German rock band has hit the charts more often or climbed higher than Scorpions. The band from Lower Saxony has been scoring international hits for five decades. They scrapped plans to retire long ago!