Rob Zombie Thinks Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Don't Get Enough Respect

Rob Zombie Thinks Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Don’t Get Enough Respect

2019-09-26

Rob Zombie – Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Ken Settle

Rob Zombie says both heavy music and horror films don’t get the respect they deserve in the entertainment world

Rob Zombie is one of the biggest names in hard rock and metal, and when it comes to how the public perceives the heavy music genres, Zombie isn’t happy.

“The biggest insult of how hard rock music [is treated] can always be seen with the Grammys,” he said in a new interview with Consequence of Sound/Heavy Consequence. “They tried to rectify it every once while, but it’s like you could have a record that sells 10 million copies and they’ll present you the award off-camera. It’s like you don’t mean anything. And then they have some record like best instrumental polka album and they’ll present it on camera even though it sold nothing.”

He added that horror movies don’t get the respect they deserve, either: “Both [metal and horror movies] are treated like they’re just one step above pornography. And for that reason, they’ll always be there, because the fans don’t think of it that way.”

He added, “The fans are there forever. Look how big Iron Maiden is, for example. If you ask the average person on the street, ‘Who’s Iron Maiden?’ they’d go, ‘I don’t … know.’ But they’re monstrously huge — and they always will be, just like horror movies will always be.”

That said, Zombie says he doesn’t really care that hard rock, heavy metal and horror movies aren’t big with the mainstream “because it doesn’t matter.”

“All my favorite stuff isn’t mainstream anyway,” he said. “I don’t need a heavy metal band to be as popular as Beyoncé to restore my faith in heavy metal. What’s cool about it is it’s not mainstream. That’s what appealed to me about it always.”

He continued, “Listening to Slayer wasn’t like listening to Garth Brooks, and watching ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ wasn’t like watching ‘The Sound Of Music.’ It was the complete alternative to the mainstream, and that’s why it was always bada**.”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.