Music

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars, and lyrical themes of war, politics, religion, death, and personal relationships.

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness".

Heaven & Hell was a British-American heavy metal supergroup active from 2006 to 2010. The band was a collaboration between Black Sabbath founding members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler and former Black Sabbath and Dio members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice. The band's name was taken from the title of the first Black Sabbath album to feature Dio after the band's original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne was fired in 1979.

The four members of Heaven & Hell recorded and toured together as Black Sabbath from 1980 to 1982, and again from 1991 to 1992. After they reunited to record three new songs for the 2007 compilation album, Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, they embarked on a 2007–2008 tour. The decision to call the touring group Heaven & Hell was made to differentiate the project from the Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath lineup which had reformed and was also recording and touring periodically. According to Iommi, the name change was made to avoid confusion between the two different lineups of Black Sabbath, so that fans at concerts "would not expect to hear 'Iron Man' and 'War Pigs' and all that... it's none of the old stuff, it's none of the Ozzy period. It's all Dio stuff. So by calling ourselves Heaven & Hell, it's revisiting that period."

Pantera is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981, and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers, along with Brown and Anselmo, who joined in 1982 and 1986 respectively. In addition to their development and popularization of the groove metal subgenre, Pantera is credited for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s. Pantera is regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, having sold around 20 million records worldwide and having received four Grammy nominations.

Fight were an English-American heavy metal band assembled by frontman Rob Halford after his departure from Judas Priest in 1992. He took with him from Judas Priest and Racer X drummer Scott Travis, though Travis also continued to drum for Judas Priest. The line-up was completed by Russ Parrish on guitar, Brian Tilse on guitar and keyboards and Jack "Jay Jay" Brown on bass guitar, the latter of the two former members of Cyanide.

During their three-year existence, Fight released two albums: War of Words (1993) and A Small Deadly Space (1995). They toured or played shows with the likes of Pantera, Anthrax, Voivod and Skid Row, and opened for Metallica on the 1994 Shit Hits the Sheds Tour.

Warlock were a German heavy metal band founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf by members of the underground bands Snakebite and Beast. The band gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s, due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. Warlock supported successful heavy metal bands on tour, such as W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Dio and Megadeth.

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when they rose to commercial success with the album British Steel.

Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums.

In the early 1990s, Wylde had formed his own solo band Pride & Glory, playing a mixture of bluesy Southern rock with heavy metal. However, they disbanded in December 1994 after having released only one album. Wylde subsequently recorded an acoustic solo album, Book of Shadows (1996). In May 1998, after limited commercial success with Book of Shadows, Wylde and drummer Phil Ondich recorded what became Black Label Society's debut album Sonic Brew. It was decided, rather than the album being another solo album for Wylde, that they would form a long term band. It was known from the start that Nick Catanese would be retained as the second guitarist in the band (Catanese previously toured as rhythm guitarist for the Book of Shadows tour). John DeServio, who previously worked with Wylde as a temporary replacement in Pride & Glory, joined as the band's bassist for the album's tour.

Skid Row is an American rock band formed in 1986 in Toms River, New Jersey. Their current lineup comprises bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave Sabo and Scotti Hill, drummer Rob Hammersmith and vocalist Erik Grönwall. The group achieved commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with its first two albums Skid Row (1989) and Slave to the Grind (1991) certified multi-platinum, the latter of which reached number one on the Billboard 200. Those two albums also produced some of Skid Row's most popular hits, both in and outside of the United States, including "18 and Life" and "I Remember You", which peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and other charting singles such as "Youth Gone Wild", "Monkey Business", "Slave to the Grind", "Wasted Time", and "In a Darkened Room". The band's third album Subhuman Race (1995) was also critically acclaimed, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessors. Those three albums featured the band's "classic" lineup, which consisted of Bolan, Sabo, Hill, drummer Rob Affuso and frontman Sebastian Bach. The band had sold 20 million albums worldwide by the end of 1996. Amid rising tensions, Bach and Affuso both left Skid Row towards the end of that year, after which the band entered a three-year hiatus.

Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. They have also achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (including 1989's Dr. Feelgood, which is Mötley Crüe's only album to reach number one), twenty-two Top 40 mainstream rock hits, and six Top 20 pop singles. The band experienced several short-term lineup changes in the 1990s and 2000s; these included the introduction of vocalist John Corabi (who was Neil's replacement from 1992 to 1996) and drummers Randy Castillo and Samantha Maloney, both of whom filled in for Lee following his departure from Mötley Crüe in 1999; he returned to the band in 2004, and their current lineup has been the same as the original since then.

Accept are a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, formed in 1976 by guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and former members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Peter Baltes (bass). Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s, when the band got its start under the name Band X. Accept's lineup has changed over the years, which has included different singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers.

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. The band have released 41 albums, including 17 studio albums, 13 live albums, four EPs and seven compilations. They have also released 47 singles and 20 video albums. Two electronic games have been released with Iron Maiden soundtracks, and the band's music is featured in a number of other video games.

Halford is an American heavy metal band formed in 1999 by British singer Rob Halford, who is best known as the lead vocalist for heavy metal band Judas Priest. Halford formed the band to return to his heavy metal roots. His two previous projects were a "street metal"-style band called Fight and the industrial metal band 2wo.

Halford's first album, Resurrection, was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. It was subsequently included in Martin Popoff's The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. In addition, the songs "Silent Screams" and the title-track "Resurrection" were included in Popoff's list. The track "The One You Love to Hate" featured vocalist Bruce Dickinson of metal band Iron Maiden.

Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group is considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene from the 1980s and is part of the "Big Four" of the genre, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. They were also one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast. The band's current line-up consists of Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, vocalist Joey Belladonna and lead guitarist Jonathan Donais. Anthrax's lineup has changed numerous times over their career, leaving Ian as the only constant member of the band. Ian and Benante are the only two members to appear on all of Anthrax's albums, while Bello has been a member of Anthrax since 1984, replacing Lilker.

Dio was an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Dio left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice. The name Dio was chosen because it made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well known at that time.

The band released 10 studio albums and had numerous lineup changes over the years, with Dio himself being the only constant member. Guitarists included Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Doug Aldrich, Warren DeMartini, Tracy G, Jake E. Lee and Rowan Robertson.

The band dissolved in 2010 when Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer at the age of 67. Dio has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.

Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine (who formed Megadeth after being fired from the band) and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English musician who has been the lead singer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden 1981–1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage presence.

Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London. In 1979, he joined British new wave heavy metal band Samson, with whom he gained some popularity under the stage name "Bruce Bruce" and performed on two studio records. He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and debuted on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast. During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums in the 1980s and early 1990s.

W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the early 1980s Los Angeles heavy metal scene. The band's popularity peaked that decade, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. They are estimated to have sold over twelve million records worldwide, with their first two albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.

W.A.S.P. was a prominent target in the mid-1980s of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization that pushed for warning labels on recorded music. The band immortalized its fight with the PMRC on the song "Harder, Faster" from their 1987 live album, Live...In the Raw. Their most well-known songs include "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wild Child", "Blind in Texas", "Forever Free", "Mean Man", "Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)" and "The Idol", as well as their cover versions of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor" and The Who's "The Real Me". The band's most recent album, Golgotha, was released in 2015 and they have reportedly been working on new material.