German rock band Scorpions retire after five decades

Rock You Like a Hurricane was a big hit for the band in the 1980s

German rock band Scorpions have announced they will break up after a career spanning over 40 years.

Best known for their European hit single Wind of Change, a statement on the band's website read: "We agree we have reached the end of the road."

The group say they will release a final album - Sting in the Tail - in March before embarking on a farewell tour.

The band was founded by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, 61, in 1965 in Hanover.

"We want to end the Scorpion's extraordinary career on a high note", the band said on the website.

"We finish our career with an album we consider to be one of the best we have ever recorded."

The tour will start in Prague on 15 March and go round the world "over the next few years" and the album will be released on 19 March.

The current line-up is Klaus Meine, Matthias Jabs, Rudolf Schenker, Pawel Maciwoda and James Kottak.

Scorpions have released more than 20 albums since they started out.