German prosecutors drop sex assault probe into Rammstein frontman

Berlin prosecutors said Tuesday that they had closed an investigation against Till Lindemann, the frontman of German metal band Rammstein, following claims of women being drugged and sexually assaulted at concerts.

Initial investigations "did not provide any evidence" the claims were true, the prosecutors said in a statement, and no charges will be filed.

The investigation was opened in June after several women claimed on social media that they had been drugged and recruited to engage in sexual activity with Lindemann, 60, at Rammstein after-show parties.

Lindemann denied the allegations, with his lawyers calling them "without exception untrue".

Berlin-based law firm Schertz Bergmann welcomed the closure of the investigation, saying it "proves that there was no basis for the very serious allegations against our client on social media and in the press".

The firm added that legal action would be taken against "incorrect representations" of Lindemann.

The scandal erupted after a young Irish woman posted on social media that she had been drugged and propositioned by Lindemann at a backstage party in Vilnius, Lithuania.

A wave of similar stories then emerged on platforms including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The uproar around the allegations led to several after-show parties being cancelled at Rammstein concerts and also prompted the record label Universal Music to drop its marketing for the band.

Rammstein, an industrial metal band founded in 1994, is known for grinding guitar riffs, taboo-breaking antics and theatrical stage shows heavy on pyrotechnics.

Their songs have dealt with subjects from cannibalism to necrophilia, and the band name itself evokes the 1988 Ramstein air show disaster that killed 70 people and injured more than 1,000.