He beme metal's first openly gay megastar 1998. Why is he still the only one?

Contents:

• WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY
• “IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN
• HE BEME METAL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MEGASTAR 1998. WHY IS HE STILL THE ONLY ONE?
• TOP 5 GAY METAL INS

WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY

Back November, the Hell Bent for Metal podst (HBFM) put out their first episo, lled Gay Satanic Love Songs.

If you’re worried that they played their tmp rd too early, this was followed by an edn entled BDSM Gear and Black Metal, and another named Horny German quickly beme clear what you were gettg: ’s gay, ’s about heavy metal, and ’s very, very funny. As a gay rock fan, HBFM founr and -host Tom Dare’s hope was to be visible to other LGBTQ+ lovers of heavy mic, and to offer a queer perspective that he felt was missg om a scene that is still affected by one episo, they discs July by Swedish band Katatonia, a song whose genr-ntral lyrics chime more wh him than the ual heteronormative love songs. “I know some people thk Manowar look gay, but I n be more specific about , ” he says.

“I n go, ‘This b looks gay, and that b looks gay, and those boots …’” He lghs. “Basilly, metal is really fuckg gay.

“IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN

“Before I started , I knew there were other gay metal fans out there, but I didn’t know who – I knew about three other people, ” he says. The list of gay artists he uld ve on the show isn’t long, eher.

HE BEME METAL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MEGASTAR 1998. WHY IS HE STILL THE ONLY ONE?

After namg Judas Prit sger Rob Halford, metal’s most obv and inic gay star (“He’s not jt gay, he’s ‘I like wearg assls chaps’-gay”, says Dare), most fans would probably stggle to name a the podst, a flashpot for fans to fd one another. “I don’t want to talk about homophobia, ” says Dare. ” But he felt there was no choice but to react to , an episo bluntly named Inter Metal’s Homophobia Problem, rerd followg the announcement of the but album by Man on Man, found by Fah No More’s gay keyboardist Roddy Bottum.

“To have someone om a band like Fah No More gog, ‘I’m gonna do a rerd about how I like fuckg my boyiend’ – for the gay muny that’s, like, ‘Y!

’”Fah No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum, whose new band Man on Man has sparked a homophobic reactn Photograph: Olly Curtis/Future/Rex/ShutterstockBut beyond that gay muny, the sight of two men embracg one another the vio for Man on Man’s sgle 1983 provoked a different reactn. ” And, really, what’s not metal about Horny German Werewolv or Gay Satanic Love Songs? Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford has always lived a loud and proud heavy metal life, but only 1998 durg an MTV terview did he bee the first metal in to announce he is gay.

TOP 5 GAY METAL INS

“I thk that every gay person has a bigger story to tell than jt, 'Hello, I'm out, 's me, '” Halford, who turned 69 last month, told me a phone terview ahead of the book’s publitn on Tuday. He wanted to sce Iron Main sger Pl Di’Anno, and he sported bandanas onstage that were a lor-d ve to gay amid the lorful stori are darker moments, both terms of dtry algs and pecially keepg himself closeted for so long.

Halford was born 1951, and homosexualy was illegal the U. While a few mastream metal ontwomen like Otep and Lzzy Hale have been open recent years about beg gay or bisexual, Halford remas the only major gay male metal fans are often attracted to the aggrsive and theraptic nature of the genre — ’s a great way to let out pent-up tratn and feel empowered — and many skew more to the right than some of their ins.

That is some gay, gay metal, man.