In a comprehensive new interview, German metal queen Doro Pesch reflected on her decades-long career as a trailblazer for women in heavy metal, stating that while she is proud of the “great” influx of female musicians and fans, she never personally felt different from her male counterparts. Her primary motivation, she explained, has always been the music and the audience.
Speaking with Metal Mayhem ROC, Doro was asked about her status as a pioneer. “I love to make the fans happy and give them all I’ve got and empower them, give out great energy and sing my heart out,” she said. “So, yeah, to me it was nothing special being a woman. I was just a woman. But I loved it.”
She did, however, note the dramatic shift in the audience dynamic since her career began with Warlock in the 1980s.
“When I started out, I swear, there were maybe 99% guys in the audience and maybe a handful of girls, and now it’s almost 50-50. So I think that’s great,” she said. “And so many great singers and female musicians and female bands. It feels great.”
Doro credited her peers and heroes with treating her as an equal from the very beginning. “I was always treated so good,” she recalled. “When we toured with people like Ronnie James Dio or Motörhead or Judas Priest or Saxon, you name it, everybody was always super, super nice to me and very supportive.”
She recounted the “unbelievable” experience of working with one of her childhood heroes, Gene Simmons, who produced her 1990 solo album. “I was a big KISS fan growing up — I still am — and then it was so wonderful when Gene Simmons [produced] one of my records… I mean, if you would’ve told me when I was like still in school that I would ever work with Gene Simmons of KISS — oh my God.”
This perspective is one Doro has held consistently throughout her career. In an interview from a decade ago, she told the Phoenix New Times that the real battle was never about her gender, but about the music itself. “You had to really work your a** off, work 10 times more, to make other people feel like metal is something really beautiful,” she said at the time. “As a metalhead, I had more issues in the beginning just having people accept metal in general… That was way more difficult than fighting to be a woman in the genre.”
Now, four decades into her career, Doro‘s drive to create continues. She has just released a new special album, Warriors Of The Sea, inspired by her own successful metal cruise. The album is being released in several collectible formats, including a first for her: a “liquid-filled vinyl” infused with blue curaçao. “It’s made by hand,” she said. “The liquid goes crazy when you put it on your record player. It’s really nice.”
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