Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Michael Naura, Knut Kiesewetter). In 1970 he collaborated as a drummer with jazz saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in Munich. In 1971 Passport, a band founded by Doldinger, released its first album, with Lindenberg on drums. He also played drums for the theme music for the German TV series Tatort. The first LP by the Jazz rock group Emergency was released in 1971 but met with little commercial success.

Lindenberg’s brash style, everyday subject matter (“Bei Onkel Pö…”) and his feel for language were an unprecedented combination in German-language music. His pioneering work helped other artists such as Stefan Waggershausen and Marius Müller-Westernhagen get record deals of their own. In 1973 Lindenberg first went on tour with his Panikorchester (Panic Orchestra).

1976 was one of Udo Lindenberg’s most productive years. Besides the LP Galaxo Gang he also released a record under the name Das Waldemar Wunderbar Syndicat (I make you feel good), a first Best of Panik Udo and the first in a series of foreign-language releases,No Panic, on which Lindenberg translated his songs into English. In the same year (and on another LP: Sister King Kong) with the song “Rock ’n’ Roll Arena in Jena”, Lindenberg first mentioned a Panic Orchestra tour of the GDR. In 1976, Lindenberg discovered Ulla Meinecke and produced her first two albums. She was a guest artist and co-author of the 1977 LP Panische Nächte (Panic Nights) and the 1978 Dröhnland Symphonie. On Lindenbergs Rock Revue (1978), Lindenberg and Horst Königstein “Germanized” rock classics from Little Richard to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and went on a big tour. The number 1 hit “We Gotta Get out of This Place” was also released with German lyrics.

The subsequent Dröhnland-Symphonie-Tour was staged by Peter Zadek as a big multimedia stage show with a plethora of costumed extras. The result was Lindenberg’s first live album Livehaftig. In 1979, Der Detektiv was the second Rock Revue, in which more international hits such as “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John, “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf, “My Little Town” and “As Time Goes By” (from the film Casablanca) were “Germanized”. Also 1997 was published “Belcanto – Udo Lindenberg & das Deutsche Filmorchester Babelsberg” which included hits like “Horizont”, “Bis ans Ende der Welt” along with a song by Bertold Brecht and Udo’s own interpretation of The Windmills of Your Mind – “Under the drunkard moon” (“Unterm Säufermond”) (Lyrics: Udo Lindenberg, Horst Königstein).

One of his most famous songs is “Sonderzug nach Pankow” (Special train service to Pankow), an adaptation of Chattanooga Choo Choo, released as a single on 2 February 1983. It originated from the refusal of eastern German authorities to allow Lindenberg to perform in the GDR. On October 25, 1983 Udo Lindenberg was finally allowed to perform 15 minutes in the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin. In September 1987, he presented a custom Ibanez guitar to the then East German leader, Erich Honecker, during his visit to the West German city of Wuppertal.

Lindenberg has worked collaboratively with various local and international recording artists such as (Eric Burdon, Helen Schneider, David Bowie, Tom Robinson, Keith Forsey, Gianna Nannini, Ellen ten Damme and Nena) on a number of projects. He currently lives in Hamburg in the Hotel Atlantic (for several years now). His somewhat hoarse voice is the result of too much liquor and cigarettes. In 1989, he survived a heart attack. In 2010, he designed two postage stamps, based on his songs “Andrea Doria” and “Sonderzug nach Pankow”, for the Deutsche Post.

On 3 June 2011, Lindenberg performed at Kampnagel unplugged. The recording was later released as an album within the MTV Unplugged series. Lindenberg was the 8th German artist in that series. The album became the second No.1 album for Lindenberg, awarded platinum status for 200,000 units sold after two weeks. The second single from the album “Cello” (feat. Clueso) went to No. 4, giving Lindenberg the highest chart position in German singles charts ever.

For 2014 he announced his first Stadium Tour in Germany.