Living After Midnight
Rob Halford’s Impact on Metal
When one thinks of Metal one envisions Ozzy Osbourne eating the head off a bat, and singing about Satanic rituals. Heavy Metal also known simply as ‘Metal’ is defined by “a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness” (1). This means that Metal tends to be loud, massive and larger than life.
Heavy metal as a genre developed an initial sound from blues and psychedelic rock (2). An influence that was heavily noted in bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. There is no definitive conclusion on what metal band was the first, but many believe that the title of ‘First Metal Band’ belongs to either Led Zeppelin and/or Black Sabbath. After Black Sabbath there was a hole left for some time until the entrance of Judas Priest on to the metal scene. According to Walser in “Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music.” “Though Judas Priest did not have a top 40 album in the United States until 1980, for many it was the definitive post-Sabbath Heavy Metal band; its twin-guitar attack, featuring rapid tempos and a non-bluesy, more cleanly metallic sound, was a major influence on later acts.”
Metal and Punk have a long intertwined history both having . As Heavy Metal sales declined in the mid-70s and Punk emerged as the new kid on the block. British Heavy Metal bands started to borrow heavily from Punk as stated by Ian Christe, “Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal” “…Many newer British Heavy Metal bands were inspired by the movement’s aggressive, high-energy sound and “lo-fi”, do it yourself ethos. Underground metal bands began putting out cheaply recorded releases independently to small, devoted audiences” (3). This meant that these British Heavy Metal bands took on the more aggressive sound that one associates with Heavy Metal today. This new genre of Heavy Metal with trappings of punk was deemed NWOBHM or New Wave of British Heavy Metal. This genre of Heavy Metal has spawned some of the most famous Metal bands in the world such as: Iron Maiden, Saxon and Def Leppard. The success of these British bands would later go on to inspire American bands to co-opt this new sound such as: Van Halen, Ratt, W.A.S.P., etc…In the background of the commercial success of bands such as Iron Maiden, and Slayer there existed several new forms of Metal being developed such as: Doom metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal and Power Metal. Metal has since fallen from the popularity the genre once had in the 80s. Despite this Metal has a measure of popularity today with hundreds of sub-genres in existence, and the existence of several worldwide Metal festivals such as Wacken Open Air.
Within the umbrella term of “Heavy Metal” there are a dizzying amount of subgenres all with differing sounds from: Viking Metal to Faroe Island Folk Metal, to Avant-garde Metal. Susan Fast asserts in “In the Houses of the Holy : Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music” that, “Heavy Metal lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo” (4). There is a view in mainstream society that all metal is aggressive, dripping with heterosexual sex, drugs and Satan. . A view that was fervently espoused by the Parent’s Music Resource Center that tried to censor many Rock and Metal albums in the mid-80s on the basis of perceived “occult” and “sexual” music (5). This view by non-Metal listening society is that Metal can only appeal to heterosexual men. I disagree with this view, those who are marginalized by society can find a voice, and an outlet in Heavy Metal. In spite of what should be a natural synthesis, the portrayal of LGBTQ+ metal heads in mainstream society is next to non-existent. Society puts forth this silly assertion that one must be restricted by their LBGTQ+ status from various genres of music. Theoretically speaking, a gay man is not any less capable of giving lip service to Satan, or tearing the head off a bat with their mouth. Despite the view that LGBTQ+ metalheads do not exist. There have been influential, prolific LGBTQ+ people in the metal scene such as Rob Halford, lead singer of Heavy Metal band Judas Priest.
Formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England, Judas Priest is a Heavy Metal band that dominated the metal scene during the 80s and 90s with singles like Painkiller, Breaking the Law and Another Thing Comin’. Selling close to 50 million albums Judas Priest continues to be one of the most popular metal bands to date a position only rivaled by Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Judas Priest is noted for being one of the most influential metal bands influencing both metal as a whole, and even an entire genre of metal called “Power Metal”. Power Metal being a genre that borrows heavily from Rob Halford’s opera-esque style of vocal performance.
Rob Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom in 1951 (6). Before he sang for Judas Priest he worked as a lighting technician in a theatre. From the outset Rob Halford’s bandmates were aware of his sexual orientation as quoted in his 1998 interview with The Advocate “Yeah, they knew because the way I started with Priest was through my sister, who was dating the bass player, Ian Hill. She told Ian of my singing abilities and, I guess, about me” (7). This is a remarkable level of tolerance displayed by his bandmates considering the anti-gay mores of late 60’s Britain. Rob Halford goes on to state that furthermore “I never experienced homophobia from anybody in Priest. I think that if I’d sensed that they had a problem with it, I would not have joined the band — even though obviously it was the best thing that ever happened to me” (8). This above quote reinforces the idea that Rob Halford found a level of acceptance from the metal community in opposition to the greater backdrop of the homophobic British society.
Unfortunately, Halford also struggled with drug abuse and alcoholism to cope with the isolation and disenfranchisement that many Gay men face. In Behind the Music Halford stated “that hiding his sexuality during Priest’s career caused him a lot of depression and isolation which led to his alcohol and drug abuse” (9). Halford did not stop drinking until a boyfriend with whom he had a difficult relationship killed himself after a drug-fueled altercation between the two which Halford would later describe: “As I was getting in the cab, he came up to me and said, ‘Look, I just want to let you know I love you very much.’ And when he turned away, I saw that he had a gun. Moments later he put the gun to his head and killed himself” (10). Since this bombastic event, Halford has maintained his sobriety into the present day crediting quitting alcohol and drugs for literally saving his life in an interview with The Washington Post, “Without it? Oh, I’d be dead. Literally, I would be dead. I wouldn’t be talking to The Washington Times now. I wouldn’t be here” (11).
Even though Halford’s sexual orientation was known by his bandmates he did not come out until 1998. Twenty-nine years after the band was first founded. Halford later made the decision to come out after forming a bond with the Queer Core band Pansy Division. Pansy Division was key in Halford’s later coming out after they had happened to meet at a San Francisco gay bar in 1997. According to HuffPost Music Canada Halford even joined Pansy Division on stage at a pride event before coming out “…helping them sing a reworked and more overtly queer version of the Priest classic “Breaking The Law” at a pair of the band’s San Diego Pride shows in 1997.”[10] An act of courage considering that he risked outing himself by performing at the pride concerts. Halford publicly came out to MTV news on May 5th 1998 stating: “I think that most people know that I’ve been a gay man all of my life, and that it’s only been in recent times that it’s an issue that I feel comfortable to address, and an issue that has been with me ever since recognizing my own sexuality” (12).
As a vocalist Rob Halford is noted for his exceptional vocal talents namely his range capable of both high pitched screams, and low pitched growls alike. He describes his vocal style as “screaming [my] tits off for two hours a night” (13). Besides his vocal performance Rob Halford incorporated aspects of his sexuality and the gay community at large into his onstage outfits through the use of leather and in songs such as Raw Deal.
The gay leather scene as a movement has been around since the 40s (14). With the earliest gay leather bars being opening in the mid-50’s and early 60’s (15). As a movement the Leather scene is characterized by masculinity, motorcycles and S/M. Ever since. Rob Halford first appeared in his trademark leather outfit during his 1978 promotion of Hell Bent for Leather. Soon after the rest of the heterosexual members of the band fond the aesthetic appealing and started wearing leather themselves making leather a key component of the Judas Priest image. In his 1998 interview with “The Advocate” Halford talked more at length about how he choose his to incorporate leather into his onstage persona, “OK, I’m a gay man, and I’m into leather and that sexual side of the leather world — and I’m gonna bring that onto the stage. So I came onstage wearing the leather stuff and the motorcycle, and for the first time I felt like, God this feels so good” (16). The use of leather clothing did not stop with Judas Priest though. Leather has become prolific throughout the Metal scene being adopted by bands such as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and Saxon. The heavy use of leather still continues in this day due to the influence of Rob Halford.
The existence of LGBTQ+ musicians in Heavy Metal stills continues this day with musicians such as: Otep Shamaya, Chris Cook, Roddy Bottum, Sean Reinert, Paul Masdival, and Mina Caputo. As progressive ideals continue to take hold in society hopefully more musicians, and Heavy Metal musicians in particular will continue to come out. The importance of LGBTQ+ Heavy Metal musicians cannot be understated in a society that pigeonholes members of the LGBTQ+ community. What this article has shown is that even though Heavy Metal and LGBTQ+ are almost never associated with one another that LGBTQ+ musicians have been influential members of the metal community. With Rob Halford being a key, lasting influence on the metal scene. His operatic style of singing directly influencing future genres of metal such as “Power Metal”. His use of studded leather is in popular even today among metal bands. Most importantly though he has inspired countless LGBTQ+ metal heads who never felt they fit in quite anywhere.
References:
Christe, Ian. Sound of the beast: the complete headbanging history of heavy metal. New York: ItBooks, an impr. of HarperCollins Publ., 2011.
Fast, Susan. 2001. In the Houses of the Holy : Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music. Cary, US: Oxford University Press (US). Accessed April 18, 2017. ProQuest ebrary.
Kurchak, Sarah. “Judas Priest’s Rob Halford: ‘There Are Gay Metalheads All Over The World’” The Huffington Post. June 27, 2014. Accessed April 20, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/06/27/judas-priest-rob-halford-gay-pride_n_5531020.html.
MTV News Staff. “Rob Halford Discusses Sexuality Publicly For The First Time.” MTV News. February 05, 1998. Accessed April 22, 2017. http://www.mtv.com/news/1429870/rob-halford-discusses-sexuality-publicly-for-the-first-time/.
Petridis, Alexis. “Judas Priest’s Rob Halford: I’ve become the stately homo of heavy metal’” The Guardian. July 03, 2014. Accessed April 23, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/03/judas-priest-rob-halford-quentin-crisp-interview-redeemer-of-souls.
Wieder, Judy. 1998. “Rob Halford. (Cover story).” Advocate no. 759: 56–69. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 17, 2017).
Valcourt, Keith. “Judas Priest: ‘It Never Grows Old’.” The Washington Times. October 13, 2016. Accessed April 23, 2017. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/13/rob-halford-judas-priest-id-be-dead-without-sobrie/.
Photo Credits:
By Fernando Catalina Landa — originally posted to Flickr as Judas Priest, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10565937
By Pizkwat — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53960421
CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2323912
[1] Fast (2005), pp. 89–91
[2] Weinstein (1991), p. 16
[3] Christe (2003), pp. 30, 33
[4] Weinstein (2000), pp. 7, 8, 23, 36, 103, 104.
[5] Grow, Kory. “PMRC’s ‘Filthy 15’: Where Are They Now?” Rolling Stone. September 17, 2015. Accessed April 22, 2017.
[6] Bernard Perusse. Q&A with Rob Halford. Montreal Gazette. 1 August 2007
[7] Wieder, Judy. 1998. “Rob Halford. (Cover story).” Advocate no. 759: 56–69.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Valcourt, Keith. “Judas Priest: ‘It Never Grows Old’.” The Washington Times. October 13, 2016. Accessed April 23, 2017.
[11] Kurchak, Sarah. “Judas Priest’s Rob Halford: ‘There Are Gay Metalheads All Over The World’” The Huffington Post. June 27, 2014. Accessed April 20, 2017.
[12] Staff, MTV News. “Rob Halford Discusses Sexuality Publicly For The First Time.” MTV News. February 05, 1998. Accessed April 22, 2017.
[13] Petridis, Alexis. “Judas Priest’s Rob Halford: I’ve become the stately homo of heavy metal’” The Guardian. July 03, 2014. Accessed April 23, 2017.
[14] Christensen, Nolin. “In honor of LGBT history month: Gay Leather History.” Liberty Press, October 2016, 26+.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Wieder, Judy. 1998.
[17] YouTube. February 21, 2017. Accessed April 23, 2017. https://youtu.be/xIus9Hskwl4.
