History

With its loud, distorted electric guitars (see entry under 1950s—Music in volume 3), powerful vocals, and often dark style, heavy-metal music became an important style of rock and roll (see entry under 1950s—Music in volume 3) starting in the 1970s. Amid the pop-rock and psychedelic rock of the late 1960s, musicians and groups such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin (see entry under 1970s—Music in volume 4) incorporated a harder, louder tone coupled with often mystical imagery that went far beyond anything else heard on the radio (see entry under 1920s—TV and Radio in volume 2) in the late 1960s. Heavy metal music is all about aggression, power, and pushing the boundaries of "respectable" music. Its critics are many, but its fans outnumber them because heavy-metal music speaks to raw human emotions.

Joe Elliot, lead singer of the heavy metal band Def Leppard. Photograph by Ken Settle. Reproduced by permission.

As the genre (category) got going in the 1970s, it produced a number of important artists who took the sound to new levels. Black Sabbath, led for a long time by singer Ozzy Osbourne (1948–), reached many fans with their songs that touched on teenage insecurities. Alice Cooper (1948–) hit on a similar theme with the song "I'm Eighteen" and later brought fantastic theater productions to his concerts, with fake blood, smoke and fire, and the trademark loud and distorted heavy metal sound. KISS (see entry under 1970s—Music in volume 4), perhaps the most successful of heavy metal bands in the 1970s, wore elaborate makeup and produced theatrical rock concerts that made them fan favorites. Their songs "Dr. Love" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" expressed the desire for good times, another essential heavy metal theme.

In the 1980s, heavy metal became even more successful. Bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden continued the early, raw sound. Softer heavy-metal bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard reached an even wider market and scored a number of hits during the 1980s. "Speed metal" and "thrash" bands that fused heavy metal and punk (see entry under 1970s—Music in volume 4), the most famous of which was Metallica, rose in popularity at the same time. Heavy metal became the subject of a hit show on MTV (see entry under 1980s—Music in volume 5) and of a hit movie, This Is Spinal Tap (1984), that both spoofed and celebrated the genre in its mock-documentary about a fictional heavy metal band.

Heavy metal music was also in the limelight for more controversial reasons in the 1980s. Critics, led by the Parents Music Resource Center, founded by Tipper Gore (1948–), wife of then–U.S. senator and later Vice President Al Gore (1948–), charged that heavy metal music was spreading bad messages that had an evil influence on children. These critics charged that some heavy metal songs contained satanic messages and some were about violence and death, causing negative reactions in children. Despite these charges, heavy metal continued to attract a loyal fan base in the 1990s and beyond.

 

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