HALESTORM's LZZY HALE Issues Challenge To Male Singers: 'Take Some Shirts Off' And Show 'Some Man Nipple'

Mick of the North Carolina radio station 99.5 The X conducted an interview with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale at the fifth annual Monster Energy Carolina Rebellion, which took place May 2-3 at Rock City Campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about using her sex appeal to sell the band and the focus on image in the music industry, Lzzy said: "You know what's funny?! It can go either way, regardless of the gender. I think that's a generational thing, where it's, like… I remember in the '70s… Well, I don't remember, but I'm a big fan of the '70s and '80s, and I remember back then, even the guys were sex symbols, and now guys are kind of scared to be that. And I'm kind of… Let's bring that back around, can we?"

Asked why she thinks that is, Lzzy responded: "I don't know. I think through the '90s, and everything, the whole grunge era, everyone kind of started taking themselves too seriously. [Laughs] No offense to the '90s — I'm a child of the '90s — I'm just saying, the guys started getting a little shy, and then the girls kind of took over with the sex appeal, and now we're the only ones doing it. So, guys, I challenge you: take some shirts off, will ya? We wanna see some man nipple."

In a 2013 interview with Playboy.com, Lzzy admitted: "I don't mind dressing up and doing the short-skirt-and-high-heels thing… The only stipulation that I have about this is that you have to make sure you have something to back it up. You can't totally ride on the fact that I'm going to show my legs and people are going to show attention. If they can get past the legs, make sure you can actually sing and be good at your instruments."

Hale added: "Sex and rock 'n' roll have been going together hand in hand since the beginning of time. You can't get away from it."

The vocalist told The Pulse Of Radio that she believes it can be too easy sometimes for female musicians to rely solely on their looks. "Actually, I've been encouraging a lot of people to challenge us, and make sure that when you're reading these articles or you're seeing us in magazines or something, that you go and you check us out live, or you go and you sample a CD, something like that," she said. "If people start doing that and don't just look at us because we're a quote-unquote pretty face, or scantily clad — I think if more people were looking beyond that, it would make us step up a little bit."

Hale also said that she was pleased to see the percentage of females in HALESTORM's audience growing, explaining, "I see all of these girls who are not there because their boyfriends dragged them along, you know? They're very empowered, a little crazy like me, and it's wonderful to be in a room like that because when we first started out there weren't a whole lot of girls at the rock shows unless you count the girlfriends of somebody in the band."

HALESTORM's third album, "Into The Wild Life", was released on April 14. The CD follows up HALESTORM's Grammy-winning 2012 sophomore effort, "The Strange Case Of…"

HALESTORM recently released a music video for "Amen". The album's first single, "Apocalyptic", became the group's third straight chart-topper at rock radio.