Bust out your best concert t-shirt and bring a pair of earplugs because the loudest show on television, That Metal Show, returns next Saturday June 1st for season number 12. But that’s not the only milestone it’s celebrating this year. On Saturday June 15th, TMS will be airing its 100th episode so in celebration we’re counting down the Top 100 That Metal Show Moments of all freaking time!
Judas Priest are for all intents and purposes the first modern heavy metal band. Earlier groups laid the sonic and stylistic blueprints but Priest codified the various strains, melding Led Zeppelin’s wailing sense of grandeur to the dark heaviness of Black Sabbath and matching speeds with Deep Purple at their fastest. They were the first to proudly proclaim themselves a “heavy metal” band and pioneered the leather and studs look, which quickly became the defacto image for all subsequent metal groups. Influenced by punk and his extracurricular activities in the S&M underground, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford was the first to cover himself from head to toe in black leather and other kinky accouterments as immortalized in the classic song “Hell Bent for Leather.” In honor of this weekend’s premiere on VH1 Classic of the new live concert film Judas Priest: Epitaph, we present Rob Halford’s 20 Most Hell Bent For Leather Looks.
Tune in to VH1 Classic this Memorial Day for Metal Mania Weekend with the hardest hitting video blocks and special programming all weekend long including the broadcast premiere of Judas Priest: Epitaph this Saturday, May 25 at 8/8C.
Today marks the third anniversary of the death of Ronnie James Dio, one of the true greats of heavy metal music. Despite his diminutive stature, he possessed one of rock’s biggest voices and personalities and was loved by nearly everyone who ever came in contact with him, be they bandmates, fellow musicians or fans.
When thrash titans Metallica took the field at San Francisco’s AT&T Park to play “The Star Spangled Banner” last week, they were but the latest in a long line of high energy decibel dealers putting their rough stamp on our hallowed National Anthem. Ever since Jimi Hendrix serenaded the Woodstock faithful that bleary August morning in 1969 with his electric-fried version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” rockers have been figuring out daring different ways to rock Francis Scott Key’s composition in instrumental form. We now present to you the 10 Most Rocking Versions of The National Anthem. Give us your feedback on vote on where you think they rank and remember to vote early and vote often.
Jeff Hanneman of Slayer.
Grief and shock rippled through the heavy metal community yesterday at the late-breaking news that founding Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman had died at the age of 49. The band released a terse statement on their official website, Slayer.net, yesterday afternoon saying “Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed. Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 – 2013)”.
Creators of hard rock’s most recognizable riff, home to some of the best musicians to ever plug into a Marshall stack, Deep Purple are just as important to the development of early heavy metal as their more hallowed brethren Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Like the high speed race cars they sonically emulated, their various lineups are known to fans as Mark I, Mark II and Mark III, but the core through their golden epoch was drumming powerhouse Ian Paice, groundbreaking organist Jon Lord and tempestuous sorcerer of the Stratocaster, Ritchie Blackmore. Read more…
Clad head to toe in black denim, named after their singer’s favorite drug, quite possibly the loudest band on Earth, England’s Motörhead are rock n’roll’s ultimate outlaw gang. Like AC/DC or The Ramones, they write basically one song and that one song is better than most bands entire discographies. Helmed since 1975 by legendary bassist-singer-rogue Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister, their high speed hymns of oblivion have been inspiring hard rockers, metalheads and punks for nearly 40 years and the band has no intentions of slowing down. These are the 10 Most Crucial Moments in Motörhead History.
Watch the all-new episode of Behind The Music Remastered: Motörhead on VH1 Classic, premiering this Saturday, April 20 at 9P/8C.
Irish hard rock legends Thin Lizzy, who are the subject of this week’s Behind The Music: Remastered, were true badasses whose tomes of fighting and hard living were matched in real time brawls and drug abuse. And like all true tough guys beneath the rough exterior lay a sensitive heart, that of bass-wielding frontman Phil Lynott, one of rock’s most thoughtful and sophisticated song-writers.
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Calling all fans of That Metal Show! In honor of the show’s upcoming 12th season, we want to see pictures of you rocking your TMS stripes!
Metal fans arose today to the tragic news that original Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr had died from health complications due to Multiple Sclerosis. Burr was the drummer on the band’s first three albums which cemented their reputation and helped define the heavy metal genre in general and the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” movement specifically. He was 56.
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
