Peter Steele
Peter Steele , formerly Lord Petrus Steele , actually Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk , (born January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn , New York , † April 14, 2010 in New York) was an American musician . Steele was the singer , bassist and songwriter for the metal bands Carnivore and Type O Negative .
Known above all for his powerful bass-baritone voice, Steele first worked as a singer and bassist with the heavy metal group Fallout and then with the thrash metal band Carnivore. After Carnivore had disbanded for the time being, Steele, who was still working for the New York Park Authority at the time, founded the music group Type O Negative together with Sal Abruscato, Kenny Hickey and Josh Silver. Steele was particularly controversial in the early years of the band due to supposedly right-wing extremist ideas in the public. He himself always denied such allegations. He later created the Vinland flag , inspired by the Nordic flags and his own Scandinavian ancestors , which was henceforth to be found on the band's releases.
In August 1995, Steele, who was an imposing figure with his stature and height of 2.03 m, posed naked for the US edition of Playgirl . However, when he learned that around 75% of the readership are homosexual men, some of whom would now make advances to him and he was then exposed to the malice of the other band members and fans, he wrote the song I Like Goils (dt. I like girls ).
Steele, who also had Polish ancestors, was known for his humor as well as gloom and depression. In 2005 he upset some fans when the homepage of the Type O Negative website showed a tombstone that read Peter Steele 1962-2005 . The whole thing quickly turned out to be a joke, but it was not without consequences for Peter Steele, as he was having difficulties with the law at the time. He had to serve 30 days in prison for assault and the judge in charge had Steele's apartment in Brooklyn checked to see whether he was really dead.
In 2007 after further personal adversities, such as the death of his mother and his cocaine addiction , Steele announced that he had undergone an inner change, which was audible on the new album. Steele openly professed the Roman Catholic faith .
Peter Steele died on April 14, 2010 of complications from an aortic aneurysm . Steele's companion Sal Abruscato (formerly Type O Negative drummer) said they were in the process of getting Steele into an ambulance when he passed away before leaving the house. Before his death, Steele had been drug free for nine months and was in the process of making plans for a new Type O Negative album.
literature
- Jeff Wagner: Soul on Fire: The Life and Music of Peter Steele . Biography, FYI Press 2014, German edition: Soul on Fire. Peter Steele's life and music . Verlag Nicole Schmenk , Oberhausen 2016, ISBN 978-3-943022-34-6 .
Web links
- Peter Steele in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carnivore . In: Metal Hammer . No. 1 . NEUMA Software and System GmbH, Lüdenscheid January 1986, p. 24 .
- ^ RIP Peter Steele (Type O Negative) (1962-2010). In: inlog.org. April 15, 2010, accessed July 5, 2013 .
- ↑ Georg Weihrauch: Peter Steele becomes a Christian. In: powermetal.de. Powermetal.de , November 4, 2009, accessed July 5, 2013 .
- ↑ Peter Steele Died One Year Ago Today ( Memento from June 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ 7 Years Ago: Type O Negative's Peter Steele Dies. In: loudwire.com. April 14, 2017, accessed April 16, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Steele, Peter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ratajczyk, Peter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th January 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 14, 2010 |
| Place of death | new York |