Christopher Lee Revelation
Regardless of whether metal started in 1958 with The Horror of Dracula or in 1970 with Black Sabbath, Lee’s first musical contribution to the genre didn’t come until 2005 when the actor provided guest narration on Rhapsody of Fire’s single “The Magic of the Wizard’s Dream.” Two years later he dabbled in the genre again on his own 2006 operatic pop album, Revelation, with “Toreador March (Metal Mix),” a guitar-heavy reimagining of the song from the opera Carmen. Then in 2010 he teamed up with Manowar when the kings of power metal re-recorded their 1982 debut album, Battle Hymns, as Battle Hymns MMXI; Lee recited a spoken word passage originally performed by Orson Welles for the reworked version of the song“We mourn the loss of our friend Sir Christopher Lee” posted Manowar bassist. “He was not only a great man and a talented actor, but also a great singer and a dear friend.”By the time of his collaboration with Manowar, Lee was already a bona fide metal recording artist in his own right, having released the galloping symphonic metal album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross earlier in 2010. On it, the actor-turned-musician – who released the record’s lead single, on his 90th birthday – chronicled the history of the first Holy Roman Emperor in sung and spoken parts.
“He was, in fact, my ancestor and we can prove it,” Lee told an audience at a speech in University College in Dublin.Three years later, the actor took things to a new level of confidence and power with the heavier, more majestic Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, which was arranged by guitarist Richie Faulker right before he replaced K.K. Downing in Judas Priest. “It is entirely heavy metal,” Lee said in a. Indeed, the album features Lee singing in an imposing baritone and other guest vocalists growling away while drums gallop and guitars chug and wail in accompaniment. Lee’s final real metal release was the 2014 EP, a hodgepodge of standards recorded with storming beats and crunching riffs.
After an impressive military career during World War II, Lee plied his trade in small background roles for a decade before establishing himself in the horror genre, most notably playing Count Dracula in various films for London's Hammer Studios. It was near the end of his horror film heyday that he made his first musical appearance, robustly singing Paul Giovanni's folk song 'Tinker in the Rye' in the 1973 horror mystery musical The Wicker Man.
His role as pagan religious leader Lord Summerisle in the British cult classic remained a personal favorite of his. A longtime fan of occult and fantasy literature, he later sang a track on the 1977 British folk concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter based on Lord Dunsany's classic fantasy novel. After relocating to Hollywood in the early 80's, he played the role of Mr. Midnight in the comedy/rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible, singing the -penned 'Name Your Poison.' A passionate opera enthusiast who possessed a deep, operatic bass voice, Lee recorded a version of 's The Soldier's Tale in 1986 where he sang every role. Later in the mid-'90s, he issued a collection of musical and opera pieces called Christopher Lee Sings Devils, Rogues & Other Villains. In 2005, Lee's love of both opera and fantasy would converge in an unusual way.
Classically trained singer Fabio Lione of Italian power metal group approached him to record a duet on the band's third single 'The Magic of the Wizard's Dream.' At 83, it was Lee's first encounter with heavy metal and as the veteran actor enjoyed a late career renaissance as the wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, he also launched a new career as a fantasy metal singer. He continued to collaborate with and also joined metal kings on a track. On 2006's Revelation, his second collection of opera and musical pieces, he included a metal adaptation of 'Toreador Song' from the opera Carmen featuring the band. His solo metal debut arrived in 2010 with Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, a symphonic concept album that won him the 'Spirit of Metal' award from the Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony later that year. The award was presented to him by legend.
Showing a playful sense of humor, he released the EP A Heavy Metal Christmas in December 2012. Moving into full-on heavy metal, he released his follow-up LP Charlemagne: The Omens of Death the following year that featured arrangements by guitarist Richie Faulkner.
Charlemagne: The Omens Of Death
A second holiday EP, A Heavy Metal Christmas Too, was released at the end of 2013 with the single 'Jingle Hell' reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making the 91-year-old Lee the oldest living performer to ever enter the music charts. His twilight metal career continued in 2014, first with the EP Metal Knight and then with the holiday single 'Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing,' which would prove to be the last recording before his death in June 2015 at the age of 93. Timothy Monger, Rovi.