Back in the early 2000s identical twins Bill and Tom Kaulitz found fame alongside friends Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer in German emo-rock band Tokio Hotel.
While they found fans with their blend of alternative pop-punk, the band also had a distinctive style and images of the androgynous looking lead singer Bill Kauwitz spread across the internet.
It’s fair to say that outside of Germany most people would have seen pictures of Bill Kaulitz with his gigantic hair and leather outfits, long before they heard what Tokio Hotel sounded like.
The band’s breakthrough came with the release of their debut album Schrei in 2005, and Tokio Hotel continued to evolve their sound with subsequent albums such as Zimmer 483 (2007), Humanoid (2009), and Kings of Suburbia (2014). Along the way they started recording songs in English as well as German.
Their fans are dubbed ‘aliens’ and at one point so intense was the interest in the group that Bill and Tom had to relocate to the USA just for their safety.
Today the band are still recording and touring, and since 2009 brothers Bill and Tom have been living in Los Angeles but their lives have taken very different paths.
Seeing what their daily lives involves is the focus of the new Netflix reality series Kaulitz & Kautitz, which shows the rock siblings following in the steps of The Kardashians, Cyndi Lauper and Sharon and Ozzy – letting cameras follow their every footstep for a year.
Having just completed a grueling five month tour the siblings return to Los Angeles and are marking their 34th birthday. Until they were 27 years old they always lived together, but nowadays while still close – they lead very different lives.
While Bill Kaulitz has declined to comment on his sexuality throughout most of his career, he shares that he’s looking for love but always attracted to the wrong kind of men. He likes to spend his time shopping and catching up with friends for fabulous soirees.
Tom lives nearby in a giant house he shares with his wife supermodel Heidi Klum, who he wed in 2019. He loves working in the studio, hanging out with his new dogs, and is no hurry to go back out on the road.
These brothers are truly yin and yang.
The series follows the two brothers through parties and promotional appearances, we meet their friends, family and loved ones.
As with all these shows that delves into the lives of the uber-rich there’s something intriguing about the juxtaposition of being able to buy whatever you want and not being able to find what you really need.
Bill thinks nothing of signing a five-figure credit card bill for just two outfits, one of which he’ll wear to their birthday celebration. When he has to buy a friend a gift, a Chanel tennis racket seems perfectly logical.
After a series of arguments, Tom gives Bill a much simple birthday gift as a peace offering. It’s a heart shaped waffle maker.
Not long after the brothers try to make waffles together, but sadly everything in Bill’s pantry is out of date, and they can’t perfect the required batter. They even call their mother on the other side of the world for advice.
I’d be able to afford some new clothes from Target, but I also have food in the fridge in date and have developed basic cooking skills. I also have a driver’s license, Bill Kautliz is yet to master that skill too.
Follow the brothers from the recording studio to private parties in luxurious locations, to soccer games and Oktoberfest celebrations.
Kaulitz & Kaulitz is streaming now on Netflix.
