Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of the bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell, and Powerfool. The original lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weikath, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. Hansen left the band in 1989 to form Gamma Ray, by which time Helloween had evolved into a five-piece with Michael Kiske as lead vocalist. Schwichtenberg and Kiske both departed in 1993, with Schwichtenberg dying by suicide in 1995.