Eleven hard rock and heavy metal legends, from Black Sabbath and AC/DC to Iron Maiden, Metallica and Guns N' Roses, plus the strange history of heavy metal itself.
Heavy metal was born in the factories of industrial England and grew into one of the most loyal music cultures on the planet. This collection follows the bands that built it, from Black Sabbath's first doom-laden riffs in Birmingham to AC/DC's Australian power chords, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal led by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and the American giants Metallica, Van Halen and Guns N' Roses.
Many of the genre's trademarks started almost by accident. Tony Iommi's crushing guitar tone came from an industrial accident that cost him his fingertips, "Paranoid" was written in twenty minutes as album filler, and Rob Halford's leather-and-studs look came from London fetish shops before it became the uniform of metal. Even the devil horns gesture was something Ronnie James Dio learned from his Italian grandmother.
The stories behind the volume are often surprisingly clever. Van Halen's famous ban on brown M&M's was really a safety test for their stage crew, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen re-engineered his kit to keep playing after losing an arm, and Iron Maiden's singer Bruce Dickinson flies the band's tour plane himself. Records came along the way too, from Deep Purple's 117-decibel Guinness entry to Van Halen's $1.5 million fee for a single festival set.
Whether you grew up with denim and patches or only know the riffs from films and sports arenas, each article below gives you fifteen facts about the bands that made rock heavier.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| AC/DC | Sydney, 1973-present | The band's name came from a label on a sewing machine. |
| Black Sabbath | Birmingham, England, 1968-2017 | Tony Iommi's heavy guitar tone was born after an industrial accident injured his fingertips. |
| Iron Maiden | London, 1975-present | Singer Bruce Dickinson is a licensed pilot who flies the band's tour plane. |
| Judas Priest | Birmingham, England, 1969-present | Rob Halford created metal's leather-and-studs look with outfits from London fetish shops. |
| Metallica | Los Angeles, 1981-present | They played a concert on all seven continents within a single year, including Antarctica. |
| Slipknot | Des Moines, Iowa, 1995-present | The nine members wear matching jumpsuits and numbers to keep egos out of the band. |
| Deep Purple | England, 1968-present | "Smoke on the Water" describes a real fire that destroyed a Swiss casino. |
| Def Leppard | Sheffield, England, 1977-present | Drummer Rick Allen re-engineered his kit and kept playing after losing his left arm. |
| Guns N' Roses | Los Angeles, 1985-present | "Sweet Child o' Mine" started as a silly warm-up riff Slash played as a joke. |
| Van Halen | Pasadena, California, 1972-2020 | Their famous "no brown M&M's" clause was a clever safety test for promoters. |
| Heavy Metal | Music genre, 1968-present | Finland has more heavy metal bands per capita than any other country. |
Best-Selling Album
#2 of all time
AC/DC's Back in Black is the second best-selling album in history. AC/DC
Biggest Single Fee
$1.5 million
Van Halen earned a Guinness record for the highest fee ever paid for one concert set, at the 1983 US Festival. Van Halen
Loudest Show
117 dB
Deep Purple entered the Guinness Book in 1972 after a London concert left three fans unconscious. Deep Purple
Fastest Hit
20 minutes
Black Sabbath wrote "Paranoid" in about twenty minutes as filler for their second album. Black Sabbath
Sydney, 1973-present
AC/DC have played the same relentless hard rock for more than fifty years, and Back in Black is the second best-selling album in history. Bon Scott joined as the band's driver before taking the microphone, and Brian Johnson was installing vinyl car roofs when he was recruited. The US military even used "Hells Bells" during a siege.
Read the full article →
Birmingham, England, 1968-2017
Black Sabbath started as the Polka Tulk Blues Band and ended up inventing heavy metal. Their debut album was recorded in a single day, and "Paranoid" was written in twenty minutes as filler. Geezer Butler wrote most of the lyrics, and "Iron Man" has nothing to do with the Marvel hero.
Read the full article →
London, 1975-present
Iron Maiden formed on Christmas Day 1975 and sold more than 130 million albums with almost no help from radio. Their mascot Eddie started as a papier-mâché mask, and their three-guitar attack became a trademark. They even brewed an award-winning beer, yet did not win a Grammy until 2011.
Read the full article →
Birmingham, England, 1969-present
Named after a Bob Dylan song, Judas Priest defined the sound and style of heavy metal, though none of their founding members played on an album. Halford was a cinema projectionist before becoming the Metal God. The band survived a notorious subliminal-message trial and even recorded an unreleased album with pop producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
Read the full article →
Los Angeles, 1981-present
Metallica played their first show in Anaheim in 1982 and became the biggest name in metal. Drummer Lars Ulrich once pursued a tennis career, and James Hetfield designed the spiked logo himself. Master of Puppets has been added to the US National Recording Registry.
Read the full article →
Des Moines, Iowa, 1995-present
Slipknot debuted as The Pale Ones and played their first show on Halloween. Their percussion rig has included metal kegs and baseball bats, and their masks change with every album. They now run their own touring festival, Knotfest.
Read the full article →
England, 1968-present
Deep Purple started out as Roundabout and became one of hard rock's founding trio with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. In 1972 they entered the Guinness Book as the world's loudest band at 117 decibels. Jon Lord played his organ through Marshall guitar amplifiers, giving them their unique roar.
Read the full article →
Sheffield, England, 1977-present
Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records, though Hysteria nearly bankrupted them with its delays. They once played three continents in 24 hours, a world record. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" was written during a coffee break.
Read the full article →
Los Angeles, 1985-present
Guns N' Roses formed from two Sunset Strip bands and became the wildest hard rock act of the late 1980s. Slash's top hat was stolen from a vintage shop, and Chinese Democracy became the most expensive rock album ever made. Axl Rose's lateness on stage regularly caused riots.
Read the full article →
Pasadena, California, 1972-2020
Van Halen began as Mammoth, renting gear from singer David Lee Roth. Eddie Van Halen built his Frankenstrat guitar from $130 worth of parts, set studio speakers on fire with his free solo for "Beat It", and even held a US patent. Their $1.5 million fee at the 1983 US Festival earned a Guinness record.
Read the full article →
Music genre, 1968-present
Heavy metal shares more with classical music than its critics think, and studies show it calms listeners rather than making them angry. Its leather-and-studs look was borrowed from the underground gay club scene, and an extinct giant worm was named after metal musicians. The US military even used metal as a psychological weapon in Panama in 1989.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. Where did AC/DC get their band name?
2. What caused Tony Iommi's signature heavy guitar tone?
3. Which Iron Maiden member flies the band's tour plane?
4. What was Van Halen's "no brown M&M's" rule really for?
5. What did Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen do after losing his arm?
6. Which real event inspired Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water"?
7. Which Bob Dylan connection does Judas Priest have?
8. Which country has the most heavy metal bands per capita?
Black Sabbath is usually credited as the first true heavy metal band. Formed in Birmingham in the late 1960s, they combined down-tuned riffs, dark lyrics and the tritone, the so-called devil's interval. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple are often named alongside them as hard rock's founding trio.
Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio popularized the gesture in metal. He learned it from his Italian grandmother, who used it to ward off the evil eye, so it had nothing to do with Satanism.
Research suggests the opposite. Studies found that listening to heavy metal tends to calm fans down and help them process anger, rather than inciting it.
Surprisingly, it went to Jethro Tull, a folk-rock band with a flute player, in 1989, beating Metallica. Iron Maiden did not win a Grammy until 2011, and Judas Priest also waited decades for theirs.
The clause was buried in their technical contract rider. If the band found brown M&M's backstage, they knew the promoter had not read the rider carefully and checked the safety-critical stage requirements more closely.
Enjoyed these facts? There's more! 💌
Fresh fun facts in your inbox. No spam, ever.
A handpicked batch of surprising facts in your inbox. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
You're in!
Watch your inbox for the next batch of facts.
