Udo Dirkschneider (born April 6 1952, Wuppertal, Germany) is a German heavy metal singer who was formerly the vocalist in German heavy metal band Accept.

After the demise of Accept in 1987, Dirkschneider formed the band U.D.O.. He consequently paused and restarted his band after reverting to Accept on occasion.

Recently, Dirkschneider makes a guest appearance on (Eurovision Song Contest winners) 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 [1].

The character Dark Schneider in the Japanese manga and anime series Bastard!! is named after Dirkschneider.