Headbanging

For information concerning medical head banging, see Stereotypic movement disorder.

Death metal band Asphyx headbanging during a performance.

Headbanging is violently shaking the head in time with the music, most commonly in the rock, punk and heavy metal music genres.

Origin

The origin of the term "headbanging" is contested. It is possible that the term "headbanger" was coined during Led Zeppelin's first US tour in 1969. During a show at the Boston Tea Party, audience members in the first row were banging their heads against the stage in rhythm with the music.

Lemmy from Motörhead, however, said in an interview on the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years, that the term "Headbanger" may have originated in the band's name, as in "Motorheadbanger".

Ian Gillan, frontman of Deep Purple, when asked if he invented headbanging, said, "That’s a definite possibility".

Dave Tyo of Bipolar demonstrating the 'whiplash' technique at CBGB in New York City.

Health issues

In 2005, Terry Balsamo, Evanescence guitarist, incurred a stroke from headbanging.

In 2007, former Moloko vocalist Roisin Murphy suffered an eye injury during a performance of her song "Primitive" when she headbanged into a chair on stage.

In 2009, Slayer bassist/vocalist Tom Araya began experiencing spinal problems due to his aggressive form of headbanging, and had to undergo anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.

In 2011, Megadeth guitarist Dave Mustaine said that his neck and spine condition, known as stenosis was caused by many years of headbanging.

Styles

There are various styles of headbanging. Various styles are often mixed according to taste and to the tempo and heaviness of the music. They can also be performed with eyes closed and/or in combination with hand gestures such as the sign of the horns, singing, yelling, and lip syncing. Headbangers' bodies usually bang with the head, reducing the strain on the neck and making the body move in a serpentine, up-and-down fashion to the music. There are a number of different stances a headbanger can adopt, from a wide stance with one foot farther in front of the other to feet wide apart to either side. The stance chosen is usually determined to gain the best base for the headbanger to keep their balance and avoid falling over. Another popular style of headbanging is windmill headbanging.

See also

• Moshing
• Stage diving
• Crowd surfing
• Sign of the horns
• List of dances
• Headbangers Ball
• Heavy metal
• Punk rock
• Hard rock