10 Most Outspoken Men In Rock And Metal History

With an artform as expressive as rock music, it's natural for opinionated figures to break through the ranks. Origins of entire genres such as punk undeniably owe their existence to an unheard counterculture voice, speaking out against various constructs within politics and society through the decades.

But it doesn't end there, some musicians will use their platform to promote their ideas, yet continue to beckon to the masses from their soapbox even when they aren't singing, playing or on stage. Some musicians encourage universal support, others provoke widespread vilification, but in almost all cases they split the audience through the middle and cause battle lines to be drawn. A famous case of this came from a Megadeth show in Ireland, where Dave Mustiane quite literally split the room by shouting "give Ireland back to the Irish" during the Troubles. While another famous case of foot-in-mouth saw Trapt earn themselves a permanent ban from Twitter. However, only the very best career reactionists will get a special mention here.

With hot takes on everything from US Presidential elections to Satanism, the men appearing in this article are no strangers to ruffling feathers across the rock community by expressing their beliefs. In the interest of equality, there will also be a sequel article to this looking at the ten most controversial women in rock music history, but that is a story for another day...

The hardcore punk scene has been spearheaded by strong personalities and even stronger views since its conception. Acts such as Dead Kennedys (remember this name for later), Minor Threat, The Exploited, Bad Brains and most relevantly to this entry, Black Flag, all made their mark on the sub-genre in its primordial years.

However, with overwhelming political representation comes overwhelming resistance, as Black Flag's Henry Rollins is painfully aware. Rollins made himself a villain of the masses in 2014, when he commented on the suicide of Robin Williams. Rollins caused uproar when he said in an article titled 'F*ck Suicide', that he no longer took Williams seriously after he took his own life, and said he was selfish for not considering the impact it would have on his children. He continued to say that "Almost 40,000 people a year kill themselves in America... In my opinion, that is 40,000 people who blew it." Following heavy criticism, Rollins has since recanted his comments on Williams' death, but the damage has been done.

Rollins has also suggested that British people "have a handicap" and according to an article by Far Out Magazine, has cited Morrissey's nationality as one of the reasons he dislikes him.