Halestorm's Lzzy Hale gave an inspirational address at the opening of a new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibition which pays tribute to women in metal.
The Women In Metal: You Will Know My Name exhibition opened at the Rock Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, July 10, and "celebrates those who push boundaries and challenge the status quo to make meaningful, pioneering efforts in the metal genre."
Hale and her Halestorm bandmate Joe Hottinger performed an acoustic set and Hale gave an inspirational speech paying tribute to her musical heroes and encouraging girls and women to "make noise, start the band".
She says: "I grew up loving rock and metal because those genres never asked permission. They were rebellious, fearless, emotional and unapologetic. They made room for anger, joy, heartbreak, power, vulnerability and everything in between.
"What I didn't always see was someone who looks like me. But there were women. There were always women.
"Women who carved out their own path. Women who climbed through windows when the doors wouldn't open. Women who were told they were too loud, too aggressive, too emotional, too ambitious, too feminine, too masculine – too much of something or not enough of something else.
"And every single time that someone just assumed she just the girlfriend or the merch girl. Every time the radio said that they wouldn't play their song because they already had their token 'female artist'.
"Every time a record label turned her down because women in metal were not 'on trend' at the moment.
"She cranked up the music and she did it anyway. With blood in her teeth and dirt under her nails, she held the gate open for the women fighting behind her."
Hale continues: "The story of women in metal is not a side story. It is the story. It's the story of singers who refused to soften their voices. Guitar players who refused to stand in the background. Drummers who hit harder than anyone expected. Bass players who held entire bands together. And songwriters who transformed their pain into power.
"Also the fans who turned up wearing black boots and battle jackets and proved that metal belongs to everyone.
"I am deeply honoured to be included in this exhibit but I stand here knowing that none of us arrived alone. Every women represented here is standing on the shoulders of someone who came before her. And if we're doing this right, we're also creating new shoulders for someone else to stand on.
"And that is what progress looks like. Not replacing one generation with another but by building a bigger stage, a louder stage. A stage with room for more stories than ever before.
"Because the future of metal does not belong to a specific gender. It does not belong to a specific country. It does not belong to a specific scene. It belongs to anyone brave enough to create something honest, powerful and true.
"Tonight I want to thank the pioneers, the outcasts, the rule breakers. The women who carried this torch when carrying it was a much lonelier thing than we have today.
"And I want to speak directly to the young girl who might walk through this exhibit tomorrow. Maybe she's holding a guitar for the first time. Maybe she's writing songs in her bedroom. Maybe she's being told that she doesn't fit the mould. Good. Because metal was never built for moulds. It was built for the people who refuse to fit inside them.
"So take up space, make noise, write the song, start the band, miss the note, try again. But don't ever give up. Because when someone dares tell you that you don't belong here, remember something. We are not asking for a seat at the table, we are building the next table."
Details on the Women In Metal: You Will Know My Name exhibition can be found on the Rock Hall's website.
