80s Metal Photos From The Heyday Of Sex, Drugs, Hair And Rock 'N' Roll
From Van Halen to Metallica, these outrageous '80s metal photos capture rock's great era of excess in all its garish glory.
Def LeppardMichael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMotorhead pose with pistols in London.Estate Of Keith Morris/Redferns/Getty ImagesMetallica. 1984.Pete Cronin/Redferns/Getty ImagesMembers of Van Halen drink beer and look at porn on their tour bus.Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty ImagesGuns N' Roses guitarist Slash poses with his pet snake, Clyde, in Los Angeles. 1984. Marc S Canter/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesJay Jay French (left) and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister perform at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. 1980.Waring Abbott/Getty ImagesJames Hetfield (left) and Kirk Hammett of Metallica on stage. 1984.Pete Cronin/Redferns/Getty ImagesIron Maiden concertgoers at London's Lyceum on February 10, 1980.Virginia Turbett/Redferns/Getty ImagesQuiet Riot perform onstage in Los Angeles on October 14, 1982.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesSlayer. 1985.Tony Mottram/Getty ImagesRobbin Crosby (left) and Stephen Pearcy of Ratt during the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty ImagesWhen Guns n' Roses first played "Welcome To The Jungle," they were performing at a UCLA frat party in July of 1985. They were compensated with $30 and all the beer they could drink.Van Halen singer David Lee Roth practices boxing in silver gloves. Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG/Getty ImagesAC/DC fans get ready for the concert to start on October 18, 1985, at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMötley Crüe singer Vince Neil on stage in Toronto. 1985.Mike Slaughter/Toronto Star/Getty ImagesTwisted Sister pose in the women's bathroom at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. 1980. Waring Abbott/Getty ImagesMetallica. 1985.Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty ImagesIron Maiden performs at the Holiday Star Theater in Merrillville, Indiana on May 25, 1982.Paul Natkin/Getty ImagesRox poses in London. 1983.Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty ImagesDavid Lee Roth of Van Halen goofs around backstage with his "Davesickle" guitar at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan on July 4, 1980. Michael Marks/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesGuns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose performs at the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, California. 1988. Kari Rene Hall/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesExodus performs at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on December 5, 1987.Paul Natkin/Getty ImagesIn December 1987, after years of rock history's most infamously wild partying, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx overdosed on heroin and was declared legally dead. After pulling through and getting out of the hospital, he went back home, noticed the blood stains on the wall from sprays while injecting, and then promptly shot up again -- and then wrote a hit song about it.Fans enjoy an Iron Maiden concert at the Lyceum in London on February 10, 1980.Virginia Turbett/Redferns/Getty ImagesPoison performs at New York's Madison Square Garden on March 20, 1987.Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty ImagesMetallica. 1983.Wikimedia CommonsDef LeppardChris Walter/WireImage/Getty ImagesMembers of Ratt and Survivor backstage in New York. 1985.Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty ImagesAnthrax Waring Abbott/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesDavid Coverdale performs with Whitesnake. 1980.Virginia Turbett/RedfernsBritish drummer Graeme "Crash" Crallan poses across the laps of the band Panama at the British Music Fair on July 26, 1988. Tony Mottram/Getty ImagesW.A.S.P.Wikimedia CommonsNight Ranger performs in Chicago on August 5, 1985. Paul Natkin/Getty ImagesOzzy Osbourne fans cheer in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1983.Jorgen Angel/Redferns/Getty ImagesStryper Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Many rock snobs often look down upon the music of the 1980s. This was the decade when hard rock turned into heavy metal, which itself gave way to hair metal. By that point, many believe, music became less about the music and more about showmanship and image.
But for those who live for showmanship, energy, and outsized personalities, this era remains unbeatable. Indeed, '80s metal was over the top in the best of ways, exaggerating rock tropes to the extreme as bands like Metallica and Def Leppard played enormous stadium shows with elaborate stage setups to match.
From those bands to Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, and beyond, here are some of the most outrageous vintage photos from the one-of-a-kind heyday of '80s metal.
