Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale: The 10 songs that changed my life

Halestorm vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale talks riffs, rebellion and reveals an ill-advised disregard for road safety regulations…

“I remember being in the car when we were moving house. It was a long drive and this song came on the radio. I asked my mom, ‘Is that a guy or a girl singing?’ That’s when the lightbulb went off that guys could sound like that. I thought it was cool and weird.”

“When I was in high school there was a lot of Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls going on, but I was more interested in ’70s and ’80s music. I was listening to Alice Cooper avidly, and this song became my anthem. I remember trying to introduce him to my friends, but they weren’t into it.”

“Every time I hear this I think of my brother Arejay. There’s a drum solo in the middle and I remember us listening to that a lot when we were young and first interested in playing instruments. I remember him playing – well, tapping – along.”

“I’ve not got a full driver’s licence – it’s never been at the top of my priority list – but I do have a driver’s permit. So if somebody with me has a driver’s licence, I’m allowed to drive. My brother has a full licence and I remember we had to go to the store once, so I was like, ‘I’ll drive!’ We were listening to this, which is a terrible idea if you’re trying to drive within the legal limits and not attract any attention. It made me drive faster and it scared the shit out of him.”

“Because Tony Iommi (sings the riff). I can play it, but not as well as him. I made a point of learning it a couple of years ago, because this isn’t the first time that I’ve cited it as the best riff. After a while I was like, ‘I should really learn how to play this.’”

“This gives you an insight into the house I grew up in. It’s my parents’ favourite song. When it comes on, I’m like, ‘Aww. I should call mom and dad.’”

“This is a highlight of my ‘pump up’ playlist, which I always put on before we go onstage. It also doubles as a great gym song. I think it’s the rapid-fire guitar riffage and the tone of Dio’s voice that does it for me. It makes me feel like he’s yelling ‘just do it!’ at me. It’s a good track to give yourself that extra push.”

“If I ever do get married this would be the ideal song for the first dance. It’s this weird ethereal thing where she’s talking about love in a realistic way. I never had that thing growing up where I knew exactly what kind of dress I would like to wear, or whether I even wanted to get married, so now at this stage of my life, in my early 30s, I’m thinking if I do get married it’s not going to be for the sake of it, or some fairytale scenario. This song has a poignant, realistic outlook on love.”

“It’s about being an ambassador for a rebellious, rock’n’roll attitude in life, and about always being unapologetically you. That’s something I’ve strived for throughout my whole life, and a kind of mission statement that I’ve been trying to spread with the band for a few years now. I’ve always said that if I can leave this world and know that I put some positivity out there during my time here, then that’ll be mission accomplished.”

“It’s about saying to somebody that you’ll always love them, even beyond the end of the world; that love never really goes away. I don’t know if I did that consciously while I was writing it, but thinking about it now, it strikes me that the song is about love knowing no boundaries. After I’m gone, after this world goes away, and after everything changes, my love for my family and for everybody that I hold close will always continue and outlast time. Even beyond death.”

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