• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Rock & Roll Myths

Metallers, as a rule, don't care about sexuality as long as you aren't sanctimonious about it and, above all, you rock.

The various music tribes of my youth, goth, punks, hippies, ravers, metallers, etc didn't give a shit about sexuality really. Although LGBT was nowhere near as common as it is now, it was never an issue.

The common theme for us was getting off our heads and listening to music.
 
Last edited:
I remember when Rob Halford came out. I was in a mate's house with some fellow metal-enthusiast friends, listening to music and someone said that Halford had come out as gay.

Everyone said pretty much the same thing: that we had all just assumed he was gay all along.

The metal community just collectively said "oh" and moved on. No-one was particularly bothered. Heavy-mettalurgists tended to be much more tolerant of difference than most sub-cultures back then and I'm happy to say it seems to be the same now.
We saw that TV documentary about Judas Priest where he described going to San Francisco and buying up piles of strappy leatherwear, biker caps, studded wristbands etc for that macho metal onstage look and starting the fashion for it among fans. :evillaugh:
 
One enduring myth is that Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynrd forever hated each other, due to their respective songs “Southern Man”, “Alabama” and "Sweet Home Alabama".

The truth is that Neil Young regretted his blanket condemnation of people from the South and admitted "I richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don't like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue.”

Neil Young and Ronnie Van Zant became firm friends and were even planning musical collaborations together before Van Zant's tragic death in the 1977 air crash.

Here's Neil Young wearing a Skynrd t-shirt:

neil.JPG


... and Ronnie Van Zant with a Neil Young T-shirt:

van.JPG


The myth of the continuing hatred still gets reported in the music media though - I last heard it mentioned on Planet Rock radio last year.
 
Back
Top