Peter Steele
The work most frequently cited in connection with Peter Steele is his output within the gothic metal genre, a body of music produced by an American singer, bassist, and composer who worked across both gothic metal and thrash metal throughout his career.
Steele was born on January 4, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York, and received his secondary education at Edward R. Murrow High School. He went on to work as a musician, singer, composer, and bass guitarist, conducting his output in the English language. His career drew on two distinct metal genres — gothic metal and thrash metal — and his roles as both vocalist and instrumentalist placed him within a field that combined atmospheric and harder-edged musical traditions.
As a composer and performer, Steele occupied multiple functions simultaneously, serving as a singer, a bass guitarist, and a writer of music. His work as a United States citizen operating within the American musical landscape spanned the intersection of gothic metal and thrash metal, two genres that informed the character of what he produced. The combination of vocal and instrumental responsibilities that he carried gave his work a dual quality rooted in both performance and composition.
Steele died on April 14, 2010, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His contributions as a musician, singer, and composer working in gothic metal and thrash metal have been formally documented in archival terms: the Library of Congress Name Authority File carries the authorized label Steele, Peter (Musician), placing him within the permanent record of American musical figures. That institutional designation, assigned to a performer who was born in Brooklyn and educated at Edward R. Murrow High School, reflects the documentary presence of a bass guitarist and composer whose career extended from his New York origins through decades of work in two distinct metal genres.
Quotes by Peter Steele
Peter Steele's insights on:
I just like being a social experiment sometimes. I really should not be allowed in public. But I just go out into the public just to see people's reaction. The thing is, I can do anything I want, virtually, within reason, just to see people's reaction.
There's a lot of things that go on when you're on tour that cannot be controlled. I'm not even talking about myself, but of course there's sexual activity and drugs, fighting and language; it is certainly not a place to raise a family.
I want to stay away from politics, or else I'll probably end up putting my size fifteen foot into my mouth.
Technically, at this point we’re no longer with the label; we’ve fulfilled our contract.
I’ve always been very image prone, along the lines of bands like Black Sabbath and even Devo.
There’s a lot of things that go on when you’re on tour that cannot be controlled. I’m not even talking about myself, but of course there’s sexual activity and drugs, fighting and language; it is certainly not a place to raise a family.
I guess I’ve learned that there’s really no such thing as a bad label, there is only a bad contract.
