Heavy metal first hit the airwaves back in the 1970s and 80s, but many of the elders
of metal continue to rock, shred, thrash, and headbang today.
These are the oldest living heavy metal icons.
Without Tony Iommi, we might not have heavy metal music today.
Known for his groundbreaking work in Black Sabbath, Iommi was born in 1948, in Birmingham,
England.
In the early days of the band Iommi was also working as an arc welder, until an accident
ripped the tips of his fingers off.
"I went to see various specialists, and they said you might as well pack up.
You're never going to be able to play.
"I wouldn't accept that."
He eventually learned how to play using artificial fingertips that he created himself.
Though he didn't realize it at the time, the accident would play an important role in shaping
Sabbath's sound.
At first, Iommi found the string tension to be too much for his artificial fingertips,
so he found lighter gauged strings and detuned them, which eased the pressure.
The lighter strings and unique detuned sound of his guitar are what set Sabbath apart from
the pack.
It gave them a heavy, evil vibe that created the now classic heavy metal sound.
Iommi was with Sabbath throughout their entire career and appeared with them for their final
concert in Birmingham in 2017.
He was inducted into the U.K.
Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the next year.
In addition to his time in Sabbath, Iommi has also had a successful solo career.
For many old-school fans, their introduction to heavy metal came courtesy of British fireballers
Judas Priest.
For most of their history, the band has been fronted by Birmingham native and lead singer
Rob Halford, who's known for his biker-esque leather and chains outfits and screaming falsetto.
Halford, born on August 25, 1951, joined Judas Priest in 1973 after his sister started dating
the bass player.
Throughout the seventies and eighties, Judas Priest was one of the biggest names in British
heavy metal, with frontman Halford's lead vocals on anthems like "Hell Bent for Leather,"
"Breaking the Law," and "You've Got Another Thing Coming."
In 1992, Halford left the band and embarked on a solo career.
And in a 1998 MTV interview, he came out publicly as gay, becoming one of the few gay heavy
metal icons.
"I think that most people know that I've been a gay man all of my life."
Halford was dismayed by the rampant homophobia he saw during the 1980s, which made him reluctant
to come out at the time, even though musicians from the hair metal scene who were dressing
in women's clothing and wearing makeup didn't face similar backlash.
In the early 2000s, after a decade away, Halford rejoined Judas Priest, and they're still rocking,
with a tour of Europe scheduled for 2024.
As the kings of the 1980s hair metal scene, Mötley Crüe is one of the biggest and most
successful of all the LA heavy metal bands.
Wearing spandex and makeup, and sporting massive teased and styled haircuts, the Crüe was
synonymous with the excess and decadence of the hair metal scene.
Born on April 4, 1951, in Terre Haute, Indiana, guitarist Mick Mars was the brains behind
the heavy riffs that fueled staples like "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Shout at the Devil," and "Kickstart
My Heart."
As a teenager, Mars was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful degenerative bone condition.
It didn't stop him from performing, but it made things difficult, making his contributions
to metal over the past four decades truly remarkable.
"When you get the disease, you come from straight to being bent.
It pulls you forward like this."
In late 2022, at the age of 71 and after 41 years on the road, Mars officially retired
from touring with the band, citing his health struggles as the main reason.
Unfortunately, Mars' retirement created a rift with his former bandmates in Mötley
Crüe.
They replaced Mars with guitarist John 5, touching off a messy financial dispute.
But that doesn't erase the enormous impact Mars and the Crüe made on heavy metal history.
Known as the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most influential heavy metal
musicians of all time.
Born in Birmingham, England, on December 3, 1948, Osbourne has solidified himself as one
of the gods of metal.
He first came to prominence in the 1970s as the lead singer and frontman of Black Sabbath,
but he eventually parted ways with them and embarked on a successful solo career.
Ozzy's first two solo albums were back-to-back hits, and he won a Grammy Award in 1993 for
best metal performance.
Ozzy endeared himself to younger fans when he created Ozzfest in 1996, which helped now
legendary metal acts like Slipknot gain their footing.
Despite officially retiring in 1992, Osbourne continued to produce music, eventually reuniting
with Black Sabbath, which netted him another best metal performance Grammy.
After dipping into reality TV for a few years, Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2017, Black Sabbath played their final show with Osbourne at the microphone, ending
a nearly 50-year run.
In 2020, he announced that he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but Osbourne has
kept releasing solo albums, including 2022's Patient Number 9.
Osbourne has retired from touring but is still widely revered today by metalheads everywhere.
As the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden since 1981, Bruce Dickinson has more than secured
his place in the annals of heavy metal history.
Dickinson, born August 7, 1958, in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, is known for his
distinctive, nearly operatic voice.
Though Iron Maiden was already popular when Dickinson joined, his vocals took them to
new heights.
The first album he appeared on was The Number of the Beast, which brought the band international
success and solidified them as heavy metal icons.
With Dickinson at the mic in the '80s, Maiden released some of the most acclaimed metal
albums of all time, including The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave.
Dickinson left the band for most of the 1990s, during which time he played a famous concert
in Sarajevo, Bosnia, at the height of wartime.
"The need.
You could have given everything, and you just felt like it wasn't ever gonna be enough."
Dickinson returned to Maiden in 1994.
Maiden quickly put out a string of new albums with him back on vocals and resumed their
international touring.
The band has managed to keep adding fans and connecting with younger audiences, ensuring
Maiden will forever be played on metalheads' stereos.
In addition to being a musician, Dickinson is also an author and radio host.
They might not have been the heaviest band of the era, but no one can doubt the popularity
and impact of Def Leppard on 1980s heavy metal.
Even today, Pyromania and Hysteria are beloved as metal classics, boasting such anthems as
"Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Photograph."
The band is fronted by iconic singer Joe Elliott, who was born on August 1, 1959, in Sheffield,
England.
In addition to his work with Def Lep, Elliot had a successful solo career and collaborated
with rock icons like Ronnie Wood and Alice Cooper.
As a frontman, Elliot wowed fans each night with his powerful voice and eccentric stage
antics.
Even COVID-19 couldn't stop him.
Leppard released three albums during the pandemic, all with Elliott on vocals.
In 2023, Elliot and Leppard released Drastic Symphonies and toured with Mötley Crüe,
in a celebration of pure '80s-heavy metal.
Few names in heavy metal carry the respect of Dave Mustaine, the legendary founder and
guitarist of Megadeth.
Mustaine is from La Mesa, California, and was born on September 13, 1961.
After being inspired by British heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden, he became part of
Metallica.
Unfortunately, tensions in the band and alcohol use soon led to Mustaine's dismissal.
Mustaine countered by forming Megadeth, and, in 1985, they released their debut album Killing
is My Business – And Business is Good!
As the primary songwriter for Megadeth, Mustaine churned out legendary metal albums throughout
the 1980s and 1990s, including Peace Sells – But Who's Buying?, Rust in Peace, and
Countdown to Extinction.
He's widely known for his virtuoso guitar skills, solid songwriting, and lyrics that
range from war, to politics, to partying.
Unfortunately, his substance use eventually took a toll, but Mustaine's been clean and
sober since the early 2000s and has never abandoned Megadeth.
He recently survived throat cancer, and, in 2022, Megadeth and Mustaine released The Sick,
The Dying – And The Dead.
Born on October 10, 1954 in Bloomington, Indiana, David Lee Roth has long been one of heavy
metal's most iconic frontmen.
Roth made his bones performing in Van Halen, where he carved out a unique niche despite
standing next to one of the most legendary guitarists in music history.
His voice was ferocious and electric, complementing guitarist Eddie Van Halen's pop-oriented heavy
metal riffs.
In addition to his incredible voice, Roth personified the heavy metal lifestyle with
his flamboyant dress and eccentric stage theatrics.
Heavy metal hits like "Hot For Teacher," "Runnin' With the Devil," and "Panama," would not sound
the same without his iconic voice.
"They named an energy drink after my job description.
Nobody ever said 'Party Like a Rabbi.'"
In the mid-'80s, Roth departed Van Halen to make a string of solo records, which started
off well but eventually were less well-received.
In 1996, Roth and Van Halen had a one-night reunion for MTV, but it was more than a decade
before they would reunite.
They released the final Van Halen studio album, A Different Kind of Truth, in 2012, and their
final live album, Tokyo Dome: Live in Concert, in 2015.
Since Van Halen's official end in 2020 following Eddie Van Halen's death, Roth has continued
to perform, including a short residency at the Las Vegas House of Blues 2020.
Born on February 6, 1962, Axl Rose, the volatile lead singer for heavy metal band Guns N' Roses,
is as controversial as his voice is golden.
His high-pitched wails on the band's debut album, Appetite for Destruction, turned songs
like "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Welcome to the Jungle," and "Paradise City" into all-time
metal classics.
However, in the 1990s, after a string of successful albums, GNR faded into obscurity with Rose
as the only remaining original member.
Despite a few reunions in the early 2000s, it wasn't until 2008 that they released a
new album, Chinese Democracy.
Rose continued to mix and match band members to replace the revered Appetite-era lineup
until 2016, when the original band reunited on stage.
Rose's controversial stage antics include frequently storming off stage and even canceling
a St. Louis show to avoid arrest.
Still, it's hard to say anyone has lived the rock star lifestyle more than Rose, making
him one of the all-time great heavy metal frontmen.
Since the early-1980s, thrash band Slayer has redefined what it meant to be truly heavy
with heavy metal.
Led by Chilean bass player Tom Araya, Slayer became one of the biggest names in 80s heavy
metal within a few years of their debut.
Their brand of metal was faster, more raw sounding, and featured Araya's trademark screams
for vocals.
They were the antithesis of glam and hair metal bands, carving out a solid underground
following before eventually tasting mainstream success in the 1990s.
Araya remained in Slayer throughout their entire career, which ended with a farewell
tour in 2019.
During their career, the band was nominated for five best metal performance Grammys and
won two.
In a 2020 interview, Araya said that, although he wants to, he can no longer headbang, after
major surgery that involved putting a plate in his neck.
Though Slayer no longer tours, Araya will forever be a heavy metal icon.
Lita Ford is one of the most legendary female heavy metal icons of all time.
Ford was born on September 19, 1958, in London, England, and got her start in the rock band
The Runaways with fellow icon Joan Jett.
After the band split, Ford embarked on a solo career, shifting from rock to hair metal.
Ford found huge success in the late-1980s.
Her hits included "Close My Eyes Forever," a Top Ten single she recorded with fellow
metal god Ozzy Osbourne.
"We actually sang it looking at each other, and I realized, at that moment, what a great
vocalist Ozzy really is."
Ford continued to produce music through the 1990s and 2000s, though without the commercial
success she enjoyed in the 1980s.
Some of her other big-time metal hits included "Falling In and Out of Love" and "Can't Catch
Me," co-written with metal stars Nikki Sixx and Lemmy Kilmister.
In 2022, Ford said she was working on a follow-up to her 2016 album, Time Capsule.
Ford is still touring and performing live as of 2023, inspiring legions of new metal
fans with her music.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact
SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).