Metal

Metal’s origins can be traced back to the late 1960s, when bands like the Beatles and Cream began experimenting with distorted guitars and darker lyrical themes. Steppenwolf described the sound of a motorcycle as “heavy metal thunder” in their 1967 hit “Born To Be Wild,” a centerpiece of the film Easy Rider. But it was Black Sabbath, formed in Birmingham, England in 1968, that laid down the genre’s blueprint. With songs like Black Sabbath and Paranoid, the band combined downtuned riffs, horror-movie atmospheres, and lyrics about war, madness, and the occult. Sabbath’s frontman Ozzy Osbourne became one of metal’s first icons.

Around the same time, Led Zeppelin took the blues and made it heavier, louder, and more mystic. Though not always labeled “metal,” Zeppelin’s influence on the genre is enormous, particularly in their riff-driven songs and mythic lyricism. Alice Cooper also emerged during this period, adding a theatrical flair that pushed metal’s shock value to new heights. His elaborate stage shows, featuring snakes, guillotines, and fake blood, blurred the line between rock concert and horror movie and influenced generations of metal and hard rock acts.

Metal exploded into the mainstream in the 1980s. Arena-packing bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard became global stars, while MTV gave constant airplay to glam-metal acts like Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Twisted Sister. Hair metal dominated radio and television with flashy outfits, big hooks, and party anthems. Guns N’ Roses brought a harder edge to the same scene, but by the time Appetite for Destruction took over MTV, the line between hard rock and hair metal was blurry. Meanwhile, true metal bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth retained a cooler, less polished, and less commercially accepted identity. 

This underground spirit was captured in the 1986 cult documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which filmed Judas Priest fans tailgating outside a Maryland arena. The documentary accidentally documented a generation: teenagers in denim and leather, pledging allegiance to loud guitars and rebellion.

Thrash metal, led by Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth, pushed the music toward faster tempos, darker themes, and a gritty do-it-yourself ethos. Metallica’s 1986 album Master of Puppets became a landmark, both critically and commercially. When the Grammy Awards introduced a Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category in 1989, it led to one of the most infamous moments in award show history. Jethro Tull, a British prog-rock band better known for flute solos than heavy riffs, unexpectedly won over Metallica’s …And Justice for All. The backlash was immediate. Even Tull’s record label had assumed Metallica would win. The incident became a shorthand for how poorly the establishment understood heavy metal and how fiercely its fans defended it.

By the early 1990s, Metallica had crossed into the mainstream, headlining stadiums and selling millions of albums. In 2000, the band sued the file-sharing service Napster, placing themselves at the center of a major debate about digital piracy and artists’ rights.

Metal has always attracted controversy. During the 1980s, groups like the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) targeted heavy metal lyrics as dangerous to youth. Court cases were brought against Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest, accusing their songs of inspiring teen suicide. Although the lawsuits were dismissed, they reinforced metal’s image as a cultural lightning rod. In an unexpected turn, Ozzy Osbourne became one of reality television’s first breakout stars with The Osbournes, which aired on MTV in 2002. The show reshaped his public image, portraying him not as a sinister figure but as a loveable, bewildered father, and helped pave the way for celebrity reality TV as a mainstream genre.

As the genre evolved, it splintered into dozens of subgenres. Norwegian black metal took on a cult-like intensity in the 1990s, not only for its lo-fi sound and occult imagery, but for real-world violence, including church burnings and murder tied to members of the scene. Death metal, grindcore, doom metal, symphonic metal, and progressive metal each pushed metal’s boundaries in different directions. Nu metal acts like Korn and Limp Bizkit folded elements of hip-hop and alternative rock into their sound. Christian metal also found a growing audience, as bands like Stryper and later Underoath blended heavy guitars and aggressive vocals with overtly religious lyrics, carving out a niche for fans looking for the intensity of metal without the darker imagery often associated with it.

Despite its extremes, metal continued to find a wide audience. Bands like Tool and Mastodon brought a cerebral, art-rock sensibility to modern metal, mixing heaviness with nuance and earning devoted, multigenerational followings. Tool’s Lateralus and Fear Inoculum both topped the Billboard charts. Mastodon’s Crack the Skye and Emperor of Sand earned Grammy nominations and critical acclaim.

In July 2025, metal and hard‑rock legends gathered at Birmingham’s Villa Park Stadium for “Back to the Beginning,” a tribute to Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s final live performance. The all‑star lineup included Metallica, Judas Priest, Slipknot, and Guns N’ Roses, raising over $6 million for music education and Parkinson’s research. The event honored Sabbath’s legacy with dark riffs, heavy distortion, and iconic performances echoing through their hometown one last time, as Ozzy closed the night from his bat‑themed throne.