Wind of Change

In August 1989, the Scorpions performed before roughly 300,000 fans at the Moscow Music Peace Festival, held at Lenin Stadium during the height of perestroika. Lead singer Klaus Meine later described the mood of 1988 and 1989 in the Soviet Union as one in which people felt the Cold War was coming to an end, with music bringing people together. The idea for "Wind of Change" came to him one summer night as he sat in the Gorky Park Center in Moscow, looking out over the Moskva River. He called the song his personal reappraisal of what had happened in the world in recent years.

The track was recorded for the German band's eleventh studio album, Crazy World (1990), written by Meine and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. Released as the album's third single on 21 January 1991, it topped the charts in Germany and six other European countries, reached number two in the United Kingdom and number four in the United States. Its success came just after the failed coup that would lead to the end of the Soviet Union. With an estimated 14 million copies sold, it became one of the best-selling singles of all time and holds the record for the best-selling single by a German artist.

The band recorded Russian and Spanish versions of the song, and in 1991 presented a gold record and $70,000 of royalties to Mikhail Gorbachev, with Soviet news sources reporting the money would go to children's hospitals. The opening guitar introduction was played by Matthias Jabs alongside Meine's whistle, while Rudolf Schenker performed the guitar solo.