Peter Steele passed away fifteen years ago, and the metal world has missed him ever since. Standing 6’8″ tall with a muscled physique, Steele had a dynamic presence when fronting goth metal titans Type O Negative. His unmistakable voice still echoes with now classic hits like “Black No. 1,” “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend,” and “Christian Woman.” His death on April 14, 2010 left an irreplaceable void in the hearts of fans and the people who knew him.
In the years since, fans have memorialized Peter Steele (born Peter Ratajczyk) in various ways. Duff’s, a metal bar in Steele’s native Brooklyn, hosts a Peter Steele Tribute night and sells a yearly tribute shirt (Boneyard Rock Shop), with proceeds benefiting the North Shore Animal League. His family hosts a yearly picnic at Prospect Park near the tree dedicated to him . It’s a time to reflect upon his life and legacy, while remembering what made him one of a kind.
6.Peter Steele Had A Wicked Sense of Humor
Peter Steele Was Intimidating – And Very Funny
“People don’t get the joke, which is that we think we’re the joke,” Steele said in a 2000 interview, after the band released their career retrospective, The Least Worst of Type O Negative. “Everyone is doing these tribute albums so we decided to do a Type O Negative tribute album – by Type O Negative,” he said. Later, Steele admitted he stopped buying music made after the mid-1980s. “I think all recent music sucks,” he explained, “and that includes Type O Negative.”
Everyone who remembers Steele mentions his dry sense of humor, aided by his deep, monotone voice and a Red Hook accent. He would often use that wit to his advantage, causing a stir with music journalists with an offhanded remark or an edgy reply. Each incendiary article boosted the band’s reputation.Kerrang! writer Jason Arnopp remembered asking why, unlike most other rock musicians, Steele was aware of the power of the press. “Maybe because I can read?” responded Steele.
Sometimes, that humor didn’t always land. Steele’s band, Carnivore, was accused of being misogynistic and racist with songs like “Der Untermensch” and “Male Supremacy.” But Jeff Wagner, author of the Peter Steele biography, Soul on Fire, told Vice that Steele “was not misogynistic or racist” in real life, and that it was all just a way to “play devil’s advocate and stir the pot and watch it boil over.”
5.Peter Steele Had A Lot Of Love To Share (For Cats)
Peter Was A Friend To Cats Everywhere
Peter Steele had a strong bond with cats, and that love made it into his music. The song “Death In the Family” is about Steele’s family cat, Venus. “No one wants to hear a guy who’s six-foot-eight with long black hair and fangs crying about his f—ckin’ cat,” he told Revolver, “so I had to make it extremely metaphorical. I have a huge problem with abandonment and loss, so I took it very seriously. I love animals. She used to sit on my chest while I was doing bench presses.“
Steele was a cat dad to Grizzelda (Grizzy), Sexy, Sharpton, Weena, OJ, Tito, and Nizon, according to the official. Most of the cats were children of other family pets or rescued kittens he’d find starving on the street. He had a particularly strong connection to Tito. Towards the end of Steele’s life, Tito also fell ill. Oddly enough, they both died on the same day, with Tito crossing the rainbow bridge just hours before Peter’s death.
4.Peter Steele’s Daytime Talk Show Appearances Were Iconic
Peter Steele On Your T.V.
With his wit and charisma, Peter Steele could probably have hosted a talk show. The closest fans got to The Peter Steele Show were his appearances on Ricki Lake, The Howard Stern Show, and a memorable episode of Jerry Springer. Steele appeared on the show in 1995 to discuss lustful female fans, speaking with his trademark deadpan. When Jerry asked if Peter was happy to be on the show, Steele said, “I’m less miserable.”
He also shared an anecdote of a woman showing up at his house on Christmas Eve in nothing but red pumps and a Santa hat. “I was not my home,” he said, and his mother answered the door. “My mother said, ‘Well, Peter’s not home – and you’re gonna catch pneumonia!’”
3.Peter Steele Had Memorable Sex Appeal
Especially In That Playgirl Shoot
During that Jerry Springer episode, one of the female panelists (who claimed to have slept with Peter) called him “the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.” This was a sentiment shared by many women (and, Peter remarked on that episode, some men). All these fans rushed to their local newsstand in 1995 to pick up the copy of Playgirl that featured Peter on the cover.Steele told KNAC.com (per B labbermouth) in 2007 that Playgirl made him “an offer that I couldn’t refuse” and, so, he posed nude for the magazine. He then, however, realized he had to hide that truth from his “five older sisters and 9,000 cousins.” He failed; one night, he came home to see the Playgirl issue on the dining room table.
2.Peter Steele Was A Walking Contradiction
Peter’s Light Came With Shadows
Peter Steele was a seven-foot-tall mountain of a man who liked reading books about quantum physics, organic chemistry, civil engineering and architecture, per Metal Hammer. He was charismatic and quick-witted, but often self-deprecating, reserved, and, as he would claim, a little shy. He didn’t want the rock star lifestyle, and only quit his job at the Parks Department after his bandmates pressured him to do it so they could go on a national tour for Bloody Kisses.
Steele had an outward contempt for humanity, but cherished his family and friends. “Halloween In Heaven” is dedicated to Pantera’s “Dimebag” Darrell. World Coming Down was written with the grief of losing his father. He told Metal Hammer that the death of his mother “was probably the worst thing that ever happened to me,” which he fueled into the last Type O Negative album, Dead Again.
He was open about his struggles with mental health and drug abuse, and was sober when he died at age 48 (from septis brought on by diverticulitis; initial reports claimed it was heart failure). It’s easy to mythologize Peter Steele as this figure who was beyond human – a tall, muscular gothic sex god – but he was human. He struggled with depression and sadness like anyone else. His art made him remarkable, and his conflicts and how he overcame them made him relatable, even admirable.
1.Peter Steele’s Music Will Always Be His Legacy
The Main Reason We Miss Him
It’s been fifteen years since Peter Steele died, and it’s hard not to imagine the music he would have recorded. In the two decades since forming Type O Negative, Steele and his bandmates, Kenny Hickey, Josh Silver, and Johnny Kelly, put out some now-classic albums. 1996’s October Rust is arguably their best, with songs “Love You To Death,” “Be My Druidess,” and their cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.”
Type O Negative mated trudging riffs with thunderous beats, creating an immersive sound that appealed to doom, stoner, sludge, and groove metal fans. With an unabashed love of goth and prog, and lyrics dripping with lust, romance and fantasy, Type O Negative was sexual and sensual, equal parts heavy metal and heavy petting (with a healthy dose of humor, which always prevented them from being too corny).
It seemed like Steele was gearing up for a second act before he died. He’d been living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with his then-girlfriend, enjoying a “long period of sobriety and improved health,” according to the statement Type O Negative released following his death. There were plans to write and record the band’s eighth album. Instead, his mountainous voice was silenced.
Fifteen years later, we still hear his voice echo. Peter Steele is gone, but his influence remains, with bands like Code Orange, Chelsea Wolfe, Paradise Lost, Oceans Of Slumber and Pallbearer continuing his legacy through their music.
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