Ian Gillan and the legacy of the operatic voice in heavy metal: Borrowed feminine classical virtuosity in metal masculinity

Stevens, Frankie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6178-6778 (2026) Ian Gillan and the legacy of the operatic voice in heavy metal: Borrowed feminine classical virtuosity in metal masculinity. In: Who Do We Think They Are? Deep Purple and Metal Studies. Studies in Popular Music . Equinox ltd., Sheffield, UK. ISBN 9781800506367

Abstract / Summary

This chapter analyses the vocal stylings of Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan, exploring the connections between borrowed classical feminine virtuosity, the aesthetics of heavy metal masculinities and theories of gendered exclusion. Deploying the lens of critical feminist musicology, the chapter examines the appropriation of classical feminine vocal capabilities through Gillan and his contemporaries’ dramatic use of an operatic vibrato and countertenor range. Gillan’s singing style and technique is analysed in relation to the sonic representation of essentialist gender tropes, most prominently his application of a delicate balance of classical/feminine and rock/masculine. This dichotomy is realized through Gillan’s use of the traditionally female tessitura, continuous vibrato, and expression of feminine excess allied with heavy rock techniques, such as vocal distortion and nasal resonance. At the centre of the analysis is the performances heard on the classic Deep Purple live album Made in Japan (1972)focusing on the virtuosic sequential vocal patterns heard in ‘Child in Time’ and the (guitar/vocal) call-and-response cadenza and infamous F♯5 fermata notes1 heard in ‘Strange Kind of Woman’ (1972. Borrowed classical virtuosity, while intrinsically considered feminine, affords Gillan, and subsequent heavy metal vocalists, authentic metal soprano masculinities. However, this authenticity is sustained and perpetuated by an invalidation and elimination of the remnants of the feminine.
Further to this analysis, a contextual and historical overview of the influence of Gillan’s vocals on the following generation of heavy metal frontmen tracks the history of the operatic vocal style via the ‘new wave of British heavy metal’ (NWOBHM) bands Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, as well as in early glam and power metal. This facilitates an exploration of the impact of heavy metal soprano masculinities which ultimately resulted in women’s musical ‘exscription’ from the genre. The tumultuous relationship with and rejection of the feminine in heavy metal, as initially explored by Walser in his seminal text Running with the Devil (1993 [2014]), can be analysed as cause-and-effect, from the early construction of soprano masculine authenticity in the genre to the subsequent under-representation of women in metal and the resultant sectioning-off of heavy metal frontwomen into the ‘female-fronted metal’ category based on gendered vocal tessitura and regardless of (sub)genre. This chapter explores these links between origins and legacy, femininity and masculinity, classical and metal – drawing from the historical, cultural, and musicological record.

Item Type:	Book Section
ISBN:	9781800506367
Subjects:	Performing Arts > Music & Sound
Department:	Academy of Music & Theatre Arts
Depositing User:	Frankie Stevens
Date Deposited:	20 Apr 2026 13:54
Last Modified:	20 Apr 2026 13:54
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6035

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