Udo Dirkschneider (born 6 April 1952 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a German heavy metal singer who rose to fame with German heavy metal band Accept. After leaving Accept in 1987, he formed U.D.O., with whom he has enjoyed commercial success as well.
Dirkschneider made a guest appearance on Eurovision Song Contest winner Lordi's 2006 album, The Arockalypse. Mr Lordi claims both "Don't Look Back" and "Blitz of Lightning" by U.D.O. as songs that changed his life in a Kerrang! magazine article. He also makes a guest appearance in the music video for the song "Shtil (Штиль)" by Russian heavy metal band Aria.
Dirkschneider recorded lead vocals with NWOBHM band Raven on their cover of "Born to Be Wild" on a 1983 single release. The song also appeared as B-side on "Break the Chain" from their album All for One. He is also famous for his duet rock ballad with Doro Pesch, "Dancing with an Angel". During Wacken 2008, he performed "They Only Come Out at Night" live with Lordi.
Dirkschneider's son, Sven, currently plays in the band Damaged, who recently supported U.D.O. on tour.
In the year 1999 he recorded the Helloween song "I Want Out". U.D.O. performed the rock ballad "Dancing with an Angel" with Doro Pesch and the version of Accept's "Head Over Heels" with HammerFall. He sang the song "They Only Come Out at Night" with Mr. Lordi on the 2006 Lordi album The Arockalypse, as well as performing it live on stage at the same years Wacken Open Air. He did guest vocals for a version of Aria's song "Shtil" released on a compilation of the same title (the original version from album Chimera does not feature Dirkschneider). He sang the lead vocals with the Raven cover of "Born to Be Wild" on a 1983. He also sings on Break the Chains with Raven as well.