My name is Yiğit Elvis İlgü and I am one of the millions of MANOWAR fans. I studied making plucked music instruments and am also working as a tour guide in Berlin. I love history, art and I’m a proud member of the ever-growing Army Of Immortals! What a privilege it is when the Kings Of Metal ask a fan to write something about himself.

My MANOWAR story started when I was just 13 years old. I was going through some CDs in a secondhand shop and after seeing the killer artwork of the “Kings Of Metal” album I had to buy it. I remember coming home, putting the CD into my discman, holding the booklet in my hands to follow the lyrics and the first song “Wheels Of Fire” basically took my breath away! (Well, the speed made it kind of impossible to follow the lyrics:)) This was nothing I could compare with any other heavy music I knew before! I listened to the second song, “Kings Of Metal” and it was so clear: this was my band! When the marathon was finished with “The Blood Of The Kings” I guess I was already a die-hard fan. And I had to get all the other albums asap! Today I’m 35 and still collecting everything about MANOWAR and searching for new items.

I got my first tattoo, Sign Of The Hammer, when I was 15 and many people around me said it was a mistake, that this was just a teen ambition and I wouldn’t like this music in some years anyways. Well, I never cared what others said, those people were wrong, and they were too weakhearted to build their own way of life … and now they must be complaining every day about their boring lives.

My biggest dream when I was a teenager was to attend one single MANOWAR concert. I’m from Istanbul and in the 90s we thought it was very unlikely that the Kings would ever play in Turkey. Luckily, I moved to Berlin almost 20 years ago and since then I’ve seen 60 MANOWAR shows in 20 different countries. Besides the Earthshaker Festival/Fan convention, my first show was a very special one. I was 17 and it was gonna be only an autograph-day of the band in a music store in Hamburg. But a small stage was built there and the surprise was that the band was going to play some songs! I got to the store early in the day and it was no one but Scott Columbus himself setting up his drum kit! I remember myself running towards him and he just started to laugh, calmed me down and told me there was no need of running.

That day I got to see three live songs, meet the band and I could give Joey my fan-letter signed with my own blood! The way MANOWAR had done it when they signed the contract for the “Into Glory Ride” album. This was how they wanted to show the world that they were dead serious in their dedication and that they were unstoppable! And I had to show my dedication the same way. Don’t try this at home! 🙂

One of the special moments of being a Manowarrior is when I’m on the street or in the public transport wearing my MANOWAR t-shirt as usual and some random person shouts „Hail and Kill“ at me or just does the Manowar sign. Then we know we talk the same language! That reminds me that what we share is more than the music, but also a way of life. I truly doubt that any other band could create the brotherhood and the passion for true metal like MANOWAR does. Going to a MANOWAR show is not only celebrating the best band on earth and having a great time but also having a huge family meeting, catching up with old friends from all over the world and meeting new brothers and sisters. Other than making lifelong friends, the greatest thing was meeting my wonderful wife at a MANOWAR show.

Thank you MANOWAR for the most glorious music on earth and for always being there for me. Without your music I wouldn’t be the person I am today. And happy 40^th anniversary! See you on the tour, because I will be there!

Yiğit Elvis İlgü

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For me, Manowar is about more than just their unforgettable music. Through them, I have been able to meet fans from all over the world, many of whom have become real friends for life.

Besides making these lifelong friends, which would have been enough, I was also blessed by finding the “replacement father” that I always wished for.

My childhood was marked by a tyrannical and violent creator (this person never deserved to be called a father). In 2007, I supported my 70-year-old mother in a divorce, that became a war. After more than 50 years of marriage, she finally had the courage to leave my biological producer. While I was facing all these struggles in my life, Manowar held the first Magic Circle Festival in my hometown.

Because of my business, I was able to meet and talk to fans from all over the world and they all had one thing in common: they shared a very deep connection with the band and their music.

This is when I first saw the many parallels to my life and the cohesion and deep loyalty of this fan base, as though they had cast a spell over me.

“Fighting the World” became the anthem to my life, and still is today.

Battles Are Fought By Those With The Courage To Believe
They Are Won By Those Who Find The Heart
– in these meaningful lyrics I recognized myself, my soul.

Each of us Manowarriors has text passages that reflect exactly one part of our lives.

The second Magic Circle Festival was held in 2008. It was even bigger and more breathtaking than the year before. Words cannot describe the spectacle of this festival, for me personally it was a time of rebirth.
I organized a big Fan Meet and Greet Party together with another fan/friend and as I got to know the fans more and more, it became more than just friendship with many, they became part of my family, my brothers and sisters.

In the following years my husband and I were present at almost every concert and eventually we met the band, and Joey also introduced my husband and I to his best friend, and legendary concert promoter, Rainer Hänsel.
From that first meeting, Rainer and I became best friends, on the many tours we spent countless hours together, but also privately, because we lived only a few kilometers apart.

Although I will never overcome his untimely death in 2017, I am deeply grateful that Joey introduced me to the man who became a loving, honest and charismatic surrogate father, and we were able to become the family that Rainer never had.

Joey himself is also one of the most open-minded, helpful, generous people I know, he has a rare sense of honor and strength of character you rarely see in people. A man who gives everything, not only for his family and friends, but also for his fans.

“I believe in metal more than anybody you’ve ever met. And another thing, I’m prepared to die for metal. Are you?” When he says this, you can be sure it’s the absolute truth and not just some empty interview chatter.

I have faced a lot of suffering in my life, with lies being told about me in legal disputes etc. etc., so I always feel very emotional and hurt for Joey and the band when I read bad press, usually filled with lies or when former fans turned against him or the band in numerous comments on the World Wide Web.

But just like in his song lyrics, Joey has never, and will never give up. On the contrary MANOWAR becomes stronger.

“They can’t stop us let them try, for Heavy Metal we will die!”

Manowar is not only unforgettable music and meaningful lyrics, MANOWAR is the truth, MANOWAR is, and always will be a way of life – My Life

Hail and Kill
Katja

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