Editing Rio Reiser (section)

=== Solo career ===
In 1985, Reiser and the band finally split, partly due to a feeling that it was time to move on, but to a large extent because of a disastrous financial situation. Reiser had a large debt with the group, but his early solo career went so well that he was free from debt in a short time. His first solo record-album was called "Rio I" and included the popular song [[König von Deutschland]] ("King of Germany"). The album was produced by [[Annette Humpe]], a renowned German music producer who had already produced Reiser's very first solo single, "Dr. Sommer", some time ago when he was in need of cash and had asked her for support. The song "König von Deutschland" became one of the few real hits of Reiser, has been covered and cited by many artists ever since and is still known among most people in Germany. Other hit singles of the first album included the love song "Für immer und dich" and the melancholic "Junimond". Reiser could not repeat the commercial success of the first album, nevertheless he released five further studio albums until his death, most of them highly praised by the critics.

Many of his fans from the ''Ton Steine Scherben''-days thought that he was selling out to mainstream, capitalist music business, and blamed him for becoming—at least for a period of time—a commercially successful musician. However, when listening closely to the lyrics, it can be noted that Reiser never abandoned his personal approach to music, politics, life and love, although the message was delivered in a more subtle way now. Reiser sometimes admitted that the objections to his solo music, even hatred by some old-time fans was a serious problem for him. Wandering on the edge of commercial adaptability, while trying to conform with the expectations of old friends, fans and political movements which he supported meant a difficult struggle for Reiser which sometimes drove him to despair and depression. At the same time, he continued to be a very creative, productive musician and songwriter who collaborated with other musicians and friends and underwent strenuous concert tours which often brought him close to physical exhaustion. One of the highlights of his career were two concerts performed in East Berlin in 1988 where he faced a sold-out concert hall filled with young people on the verge of the revolution which one year later led to the collapse of the political system of the German Democratic Republic and the opening of the Berlin wall. Recordings of the concerts prove that the east German audience knew the lyrics of his solo songs, and in particular all of the "Ton Steine Scherben" songs which they performed by heart, even though the albums were hard to come by in East Germany.

Reiser wrote and performed most of his songs entirely by himself, although he was often accompanied by his longtime friend R.P.S. Lanrue who continued to support him as lead guitar player and also delivered many musical ideas, while a few of his song lyrics were also written by or together with his long-term partner Misha Schoeneberg. Reiser's sixth and last solo album, which was recorded in 1995, was called ''Himmel und Hölle'' (''Heaven and Hell''). The album was the last one which he was contractually obliged to deliver to his major music company, and both the musical approach as well as the lyrics imply that Reiser was about to return to a state of inner independence from the major business not only personally, but also in artistic terms, including a sound and concept which is often seen as more authentic than the previous studio albums. After the release of the last album, which was not strongly marketed by his company, even though praised by the critics, Reiser was preparing new songs which he would have produced independently again, the completion of which was interrupted by his sudden and unexpected death.

Some critics say that Rio Reiser created a new image of a German folk singer; he was even called a "[[Schlager]]" artist and a "[[Volksmusik]]" musician (sometimes translated as "folk music", but in a literary sense it means music of the people). To other critics, Reiser was simply a singer in a rock band.  However, Reiser sometimes approved of being referred to a Volksmusik musician, because he thought that this would simply mean he sang music for the people.