"I got called into the principal’s office because our songs didn’t say ‘Jesus’ enough." Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale opens up about stepping away from church as a teenager

Halestorm singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale has opened up about her spiritual journey in a new interview, saying that although she formed her band while studying at a Christian school and attending church as a teenager, the “hypocrisy” of certain leaders led to her turning away from organised religion.

Talking to the Heavy Stories podcast, the frontwoman, who formed her Grammy-winning and Platinum-selling four-piece with her drummer brother Arejay in 1997, reveals that some of their first gigs were played at local churches.

When asked if she was actively religious at the time, Hale answers (via Blabbermouth): “Since I was little, we would go to church: we would go to Presbyterian church. Our parents wanted us to have good morals and all. And we did that up until, I think, right after the band started.”

She adds that the Hales lost their “taste in religion” but not their belief in “something out there that is out of our control”, explaining that how she was treated by both fellow students and teachers in her school made a deep impact.

“I was going to a Christian school at the time, shortly after we started the band,” she continues. “I got called in the principal’s office because I was sharing our songs and they didn’t say ‘Jesus’ on it enough … The kids were bad enough, but the adults were really just kind of bugging us with this.

“And when I started seeing some of the hypocrisy that goes into religion versus wanting to follow the 10 Commandments, it started kind of clicking something in my brain where, like, there’s something more than we as humans believe is religion or that blanket of that. And so we kind of stopped doing that.”

Even though Halestorm haven’t been a Christian rock band since well before the release of their self-titled debut album in 2009, Hale observes that the genre tag “still follows me around”. However, it’s not something that offends her.

“I’m not ashamed of that, I’m not denying that,” she says. “I love having both of those [religious and non-religious] perspectives, because I believe that a lot of the things that I learned were very good ideas. It’s when man’s hands kind of get all into it and start twisting into greed or gain versus, ‘Hey, loving one another is a really good idea.’”

Halestorm was released via Atlantic and quickly made the band US rock radio fixtures, with the single I Get Off reaching number six on the US Mainstream Rock chart. The song was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America. In 2013, Love Bites (So Do I), a single from their second album The Strange Case Of…, won the Grammy Award For Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance.

Halestorm released their sixth and latest album, Everest, to positive reviews last summer. The band are touring extensively to promote the release, with festival sets and a UK acoustic run lined up for the summer. They’ll then tour across North America from June to October. See all of their live plans via their website.