Halestorm's Lzzy Hale reveals the Heart album that inspired her to be a rock star
She had an epiphany that 'women can do this too'
Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale has told Planet Rock that Heart’s 1995 live album ‘The Road Home’ gave her the inspiration and confidence to become a rock star as a teenager.
Lzzy Hale was the very special guest on My Planet Rocks with Liz Barnes on Sunday evening, and Liz asked Lzzy whether global events like International Women’s Day have an impact on her.
“I'm very proud to not only be a musician but to be a female musician and to have had both the support of people like my parents and a lot of people around me in order to help me build my empire,” Lzzy said.
“I'm very lucky to be able to stand on a platform right now and be in a position where I'm now able to pass the torch to some younger female musicians.”
Lzzy went on to credit Heart as giving her an epiphany moment when she was younger that women can become big name and influential rock stars too.
“I had my own epiphany when I was a kid that, ‘oh, women can do this too’,” Lzzy explained. “It was in the in the 90s, Heart put out an album called ‘The Road Home’ (1995 live record produced by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones) and it was a live album.
“I recently actually got to meet Ann Wilson for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was able to thank her. As women trying to do anything in life - whether it is in your profession, whether it's my profession, we've all had our hurdles that we've had to get through and the doors we've had to break down in order to either be taken seriously or just prove to everyone that you can do it.”
Lzzy continued: “I have my own stories of that, but it doesn't compare to what the women of the 70s and 80s had to go through in order to break down those barriers.
“It was wonderful to get to thank Ann Wilson for not giving up. Because I think that if that was the narrative for her was ‘she was female in the industry, and it got too hard so she gave up and she doesn't do music anymore.’ Then I feel like that would have been my narrative too.
“But because these women did it and you could see the success they've had - because I think it's important for young women to see themselves in someone who came before them and have those kinds of success stories. You know, you can do anything that you set your mind to, it's just time and work.”
Lzzy went on to praise her close friend Taylor Momsen, who ditched her acting career to make her dream of becoming a rock star a reality with The Pretty Reckless.
“I love The Pretty Reckless and I love Taylor (Momsen),” Lzzy said. “Her and I've been friends for years. She actually was my saving grace during some of the lockdown, we would end up having FaceTime Cocktail Hour and just talk about anything to keep our minds off of things.
“She's a wonderful person, a wonderful songwriter and I think that it was really brave of her to decide to reinvent herself.
“I think that especially us as girls, we decide to do one thing. She had been an actor since she was a little girl, and you evolve as a person and your passions, and your desires and your directions evolve and that's for any human. I think it's beautiful.
“She's brilliant, and I'm really proud of her for doing that because I think that's really inspiring for other young women as well. Like, ‘hey, try everything. Try everything. And if it's not working out, it doesn't make you happy. Move on. You're allowed to do that.”
Listen to Lzzy Hale on My Planet Rocks:
You can listen to Lzzy Hale’s full chat on My Planet Rocks below. Lzzy picks tunes by Mammoth WVH, The Pretty Reckless, Stone Temple Pilots, Black Sabbath, All Them Witches and Heart.
The show is also repeated on Wednesday night (9th March) at 9pm.
The childhood homes of famous rock stars:
Joe Elliott’s childhood home
Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott was born and raised at 61 Crookes Road in Sheffield. Ahead of Def Leppard's homecoming gigs at The Leadmill and Bramall Lane in May 2023, Joe visited the property. He wrote: "The house I was born in, grew up in, met Sav & Tony Kenning for the very time in that upstairs room you can see above me …. Sigh …. Memories!!"
Ozzy Osbourne’s childhood home
One of six children, Ozzy Osbourne spent his formative years in this small two-bedroom terraced house on Lodge Road in Aston. Ozzy told Huffington Post in 2014: "I've been back to that house a few times over the years and I can't believe there were eight of us living in a two-and-a-half-bedroom house. It is tiny! I have wardrobes bigger in my house."
John Lennon’s childhood home
Now a lovingly restored Grade II listed building preserved by the National Trust, John Lennon lived at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool with his Aunt Mimi from 1945 to 1963. It featured on the cover to Oasis single 'Live Forever' in 1994 and in 2000 it was adorned with an English Heritage blue plaque.
Paul McCartney’s childhood home
Sir Paul McCartney's childhood home at 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, south Liverpool. It became a listed building in 2012 and is owned by the National Trust. The Trust markets the house as "the birthplace of the Beatles" as it was where McCartney and Lennon penned the earliest Beatles songs.
Ringo Starr’s childhood home
Ringo Starr (aka Richard Starkey) spent his very early childhood years at a terraced house on Madryn Street in Liverpool but moved to at two-up, two-down house 10 Admiral Grove in Dingle when he was 3 with mum Elsie when his parents separated. He lived there for the next 20 years. Pictured is 10 Admiral Grove in 1964.
David Bowie’s childhood home
40 Stansfield Road in Brixton where a young David Jones - aka David Bowie – lived until he was six years old. The house became a shrine for Bowie when the music legend died in January 2016.
Kurt Cobain’s childhood home
Kurt Cobain's childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington. Nirvana fan Lee Bacon bought the house in 2018 for $225,000 (around £170,000) and told Rolling Stone: "My goal is to preserve and restore it for my generation and for my kids."
Kurt Cobain’s childhood home
Kurt Cobain's Led Zeppelin graffiti is still on the walls in his attic bedroom.
Little Richard’s childhood home
The late rock and roll pioneer was brought up alongside his eleven siblings in this detached home in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood of Macon, Georgia in the 1930s and 40s. Now named The Little Richard Resource Center, the home is now open to the public and hosts a number of community events.
Bruce Springsteen’s childhood home
Bruce Springsteen grew up in this home at 39 1/2 Institute Street in Freehold, New Jersey from the years 1955 to 1962. It was while living at this house aged 7 in 1956 that Springsteen witnessed Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show and decided he wanted to be a musician himself.
Johnny Cash’s childhood home
Meticulously restored in 2014 thanks to funds from Arkansas State University, Johnny Cash's boyhood home is in the tiny town of Dyess, Arkansas.
Jim Morrison’s childhood home
Jim Morrison's home in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he lived in his teens while his dad worked at the nearby Kirtland Air Force Base.
Bono’s childhood home
Paul 'Bono' Hewson's parents bought this house on Cedarwood Road, Dublin seven weeks after his birth in 1960 and he spent his entire childhood here. The U2 song 'Cedarwood Road' on their 2014 album 'Songs of Innocence' is a nostalgic musical celebration of Bono's boyhood abode.
Freddie Mercury’s childhood home
Aged 17, Freddie Mercury and his family fled the Zanzibar revolution to live at 22 Gladstone Avenue in Feltham, West London. Pictured is Queen's Brian May and Freddie's younger sister Kashmira Cooke at the unveiling of a Blue Plaque at the house in September 2016.
Lars Ulrich’s childhood home
Lars Ulrich lived in this uniquely designed property in Hellerup, Denmark with his family until he moved to America aged 17.
Mick Jagger’s childhood home
Sir Mick Jagger was brought up in this semi-detached house in Dartford, Kent. His future bandmate Keith Richards lived just around the corner.
Keith Richards’ childhood home
Keith Richards spent the first six years of his life living in this two-bedroom flat above a florists in Dartford, Kent.
Axl Rose’s childhood home
Axl Rose lived at this humble Lafayette, Indiana house from 1962 to 1982 before moving to Los Angeles in his early twenties.
Marc Bolan’s childhood home
The young Mark Field (Marc Bolan) lived at this terraced property on Stoke Newington Common, London from his birth in 1947 to aged 15 in 1962. In 2005, the London Borough of Hackney honoured Bolan with a plaque outside the property.
Elvis Presley’s childhood home
The humble two-bedroom house in Tupelo, Mississippi where The King himself Elvis Presley was born on 8th January 1935. It was built by his father Vernon after he successfully secured a $180 loan.
Jon Bon Jovi's childhood home
John Francis Bongiovi Jr.'s childhood home in Sayreville, New Jersey. Astonishingly, MTV bought the home in 1989 and gave it away in a competition. Jon Bon Jovi was reported to be "angry" at the publicity stunt and the competition winner soon sold the property.
Noel and Liam Gallagher's childhood home
Soon after Liam's birth, the Gallaghers moved to Ashby Avenue and then to Cranwell Drive in Burnage (pictured). With a violent and alcoholic father, Noel and his brothers had an unhappy childhood before mum Peggy left Thomas in 1982 with her three children.