SEBASTIAN BACH Says Being Labeled 'Hair Metal' Gets Under His Skin

Sebastian Bach has taken issue with the label "hair metal," saying that the pejorative term was coined in the late 1990s as a way to disparage acts thought to have been all flash and no substance.

Earlier today, TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider tweeted out a link to an article about an upcoming compilation album from the pioneering British glam rock band SLADE. In an accompanying message, Dee wrote: "THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY FAN OF 80'S HAIR METAL!! This band inspired so many of us!! @slade SLADE, will compile all their global successes in 'CUM ON FEEL THE HITZ'" A short time later, the former SKID ROW frontman, who is friends with Snider, chimed in, writing: "Is there really anybody in the world who really calls themselves a fan of ''80s Hair Metal'?" In response to Sebastian's question, one fan wrote: "Come on, Bas, compared to the crap they call music now. Hell yes, I am a fan!" Bach then shot back: "So then is SLADE called 70s hair metal now then? If omeone [sic] called me 'hair metal' when I started out in SKID ROW I might not have done this for a living" The same fan wrote back: "Don't you think Glam developed into hair metal?", to which Sebastian responded: "No I do not think that Glam has anything to do with hair metal. Glam rockers are proud people not talentless posers which is what those terms represent" The fan then wrote, "You know back then, someone, somewhere definitely called you guys a hair metal band", causing Bach to fire back: "No, definitely nobody did. You were obviously not there. Believe me I was.If SKID ROW was called an '80s hair metal' band when we started I would not have joined the band. If Dee would have rapped in 'you can't stop rock n' roll' about 'hair metal' I would not have turned it up" The fan then wrote: "SKID ROW had way too much edge to really be hair metal. You couldn't put SKID ROW and POISON in the same category," at which point Bach wrote: "Nobody called POISON hair metal then either. nobody used the term hair metal until the late 90s I'm not trying to make anybody mad these are the facts. That used to be called glam metal, or heavy metal, or hard Rock or most accurately just plain old rock n' roll. these are facts"

Before long, another Twitter user asked, "is DEF LEPPARD considered hair metal? they feel a little pop/ soft rock to me? but they were played on MTV's hair metal show", to which Sebastian replied: "Maybe they're called hair metal in 2020. DEF LEPPARD was never called hair metal until the late 90s because the term hair metal did not exist until then."

Another user poked fun at Sebastian's reaction, writing: "mf was literally in an 80s hair metal band what kind of brain rot". Bach responded: "There is no such thing as an 80s hair metal band because in the 80s there was no term hair metal. I am sorry if this angers you".

After someone else asked, "THEN WHAT ELSE DO YOU CALL IT ??", Sebastian wrote: "When I 1st aspired to be a vocalist of a band it was called rock n' roll Heavy metal Heavy Rock Hard Rock Glam metal Nobody in the 80s ever started a hair metal band".

A fan then shot back: "ok so glam metal,,,which has also been CALLED hair metal,,,sir please im not angry this is just unreasonably funny to me". This caused Sebastian to respond with: "Being labeled something that I never set out to be labeled gets under my skin. It's a pain when people try to rewrite history. Believe me none of us ever set out to be in a hair metal band that did not exist in the 80s"

This is not the first time Bach has reacted negatively to the term "hair metal." In a 2012 interview with The New York Times, he famously said: "I am the man who put the hair in hair metal. I also headlined Broadway musicals. I acted in millions of TV shows. I didn't get to star in 'Jekyll And Hyde' on Broadway because of my haircut. My voice has gotten me everything in my life, not my hair."