Celebrity Metalheads: Margot Robbie, Carrie Underwood, and More Stars You Didn't Know Are Secret Heavy Metal Fans
From Carrie Underwood to Nic Cage, and even Margot Robbie, there are a lot of celebrities who love heavy metal.
Ed Sheeran
In February, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran surprised fans by teaming up with U.K. metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon for a new, much heavier, version of his hit single "Bad Habits." The two acts joined forces to perform the song at the Brits Awards show, and it truly brought the house down. The following week, Sheeran and BMTH dropped an official studio version of the song, and it is currently available on most music streaming services.
This is not Sheeran's only connection to the heavy metal world, however. Previously, the redheaded Brit revealed his love of longtime black metal band Cradle of Filth, who is originally from Suffolk, where Sheeran grew up. This prompted he and the band's founding frontman Dani Filth to get in touch with one another and talk about a possible collaboration.
"Ed's expressed a desire to be part of a song, and we're currently looking at some options, and that's about as far as it's got," the Cradle of Filth frontman told Heavy Consequence in a February interview. Filth continued, "He did invite me up to his house. He doesn't live very far from me, probably 18 to 20 miles from where I live."
Carrie Underwood
In April, Carrie Underwood sat down with CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller for a CBS Sunday Morning interview and, quite unexpectedly, revealed that she is a little bit of a metalhead. At least, when she's exercising. The country music superstar shared that she likes to listen to metalcore band I Prevail when she works out.
"Their Trauma album is one that I have on repeat when I'm working out." Underwood then pointed out, "There's a lot of not-children-friendly words on it. That's important to note." She joked, "I'm like, 'Don't go buy, you know, My Savior [her new Christian music record] and then go buy Trauma and be like, 'Carrie Underwood told me to.'"
Demi Lovato
In the past, one of the most surprising names to many when talking about celebrity metalheads is pop singer Demi Lovato. During a 2008 interview with MTV, the Camp Rock star named bands like Lamb of God, Job for a Cowboy, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and Abigail Williams. She also said that Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir was one of her favorite live bands.
"It's so completely different from anything else," Lovato said of her love of metal at the time. "You've got vocals that I can't do, the double bass drums, the incredible guitar solos ... every part of the band does more difficult stuff than your average rock band does. I listen to these bands, and I wish I could do all of that, but I can't." Most recently, Lovato did exactly that when she released a new album, titled HOLY FVCK. It finds the singer exploring the world of rock and punk more than she has in the past.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey is the type of personality that at first when you hear he's a metalhead you think, "Really?" But once you think about it, it kind of makes perfect sense. His affinity for metal has been documented as far back as one of his earliest appearances on the Arsenio Hall Show in the early '90s when he talked about listening to British grindcore band Napalm Death. Later, he managed to get another one of his favorite bands — Florida death metal legends Cannibal Corpse — into a scene in Ace Venture: Pet Detective.
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender has starred in numerous film franchises, from X-Men to Aliens. Fans might be surprised to found out, though, that he's an old-school metalhead. Metal Injection once reported that Fassbender gave an interview wherein he said that Metallica "was a big influence" in him growing up.
"Nowadays, people just listen to everything, it's great, but back when I was at school, high school, you were a Goth or you were into grunge or you were into punk or you were into metal and that kind of defined your style — in what you wore and the groups you hang out with," Fassbender went on to say.
"I think in places, you know, growing up in the countryside, I think music is a very big deal for teenagers and especially in places away from cities. It's kind of the one outlet you can get. There's not a lot of options other than, you know, fields and mountains which are beautiful and great, but in terms of any action it was found through some sort of music," he added. "So yeah, heavy metal was big." The outlet also noted that he is said to be a big fan of bands like Sepultura, Iron Maiden, and Slayer as well.
Nicolas Cage
In all fairness, Nic Cage being a metalhead is not all that surprising considering his son Weston Cage used to play in a black metal band, but it is pretty cool. Not only was he a supportive dad when it came to his son's band, Eyes of Noctum, but Weston once said in an interview that his dad was also into some other iconic black metal bands. "He likes Darkthrone and he likes Satyricon as well," Weston said of Nic's taste in metal, as reported by Metal Injection.
Colin Hanks
Tom Hanks may often be referred to as the "nicest guy in Hollywood," but that didn't seem to stop his son Colin Hanks from becoming a bit of a metalhead. During a podcast interview earlier in 2018, Hanks name-dropped both Far and the Deftones as bands he was a big fan of growing up, eventually mentioning Primus as well.
"I was a big Primus fan growing up. I was obsessed with them… I was really drawn to them because they were so different. And that was really sort of like the big thing for me growing up," Hanks said, per Metal Injection.
Bill Burr
Not many people realized that comedian Bill Burr is an avid drummer, and even fewer people know that he's a metal fan. During a podcast in 2017, Burr mentioned that his drum teacher recommended he check out Meshuggah, which he did, but felt it was "too advanced" for him at the time. He eventually came back to the band later and ended up becoming a big fan.
"I had this Meshuggah album for the longest time and I went back and listened to it and I think I'm finally starting to like… I always knew it was amazing but now I am actually f—ing into it." he said in the podcast, as reported by Metal Injection. "I keep listening to that first song — I'm babystepping my way into it, this music is way advanced for my limited musical abilities," Burr added. "But that first song "Stengah" … the drumming on that, the whole f—ing thing is unbelievable."
Ice-T
In March 2021, during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, Body Count won Best Metal Performance for their song "Bum Rush," but what surprised many is that the group is fronted by a very recognizable celebrity. Ice-T, who is both an accomplished rapper and actor, is the vocalist for the hardcore metal band. He has been starring in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 2000, but has been putting out records with Body Count since 1992.
On the band's 2017 album, Bloodlust, Ice-T proudly states that legendary thrash band Slayer is one of his favorite groups. Body Count then goes on to cover two classic Slayer tunes on the album: "Raining Blood" and "Postmortem." Over the years, a number of high-profile metal musicians have appeared on Body Count tracks, including Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), and the late Riley Gale (Power Trip).
On the band's most recent album, 2020's Carnivore, Evanescence singer Amy Lee was featured, as was former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. The band also paid homage to another one of their metal influences, Motorhead, by delivering their own version of the band's classic song "Ace of Spades."
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