Rio Reiser (born January 9th, 1950 in Berlin - died August 20th, 1996 in Fresenhagen, Germany) was a German musician. He joined The Beatkinks - primarily a Rolling Stones and Beatles cover band - in 1966 as their vocalist. In 1970 he founded the famous band Ton Steine Scherben, together with Ralph Steitz, Kai Sichtermann and Wolfgang Seidel. The band split in 1985 due to financial reasons. Since 1983 he performed as a solo artist and collaborated with other artists. In 1986 he released his first solo LP Rio I. He was also working as an actor in theatre and movies. He died from a cardio-vascular collapse in connection with internal bleedings, and was buried on his own estate. His home (now named Rio Reiser Haus) became a recording studio and conference centre.