“Why can’t you love me, like a woman can?” Lzzy Hale sings in Halestorm’s forthcoming single, “Like a Woman Can,” a highlight of the Nashville-based rock band’s new album, Everest.
Hale, who came out as bisexual in 2022, has never been shy about her sexuality. She’s written and sung about it often, leaving little to the imagination in songs like the 2018 romp “Do Not Disturb.” In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, Hale and guitarist Joe Hottinger say they’ve witnessed Halestorm’s audience grow to include a broad swath of LGBTQ+ fans. According to Hale, she’s approached for advice.
“I don’t have all the answers…, but you get kids coming up saying, ‘Hey, I’m trying to come out to my parents, what do I do?’” Hale says. “I didn’t even talk to my parents about any of this stuff. I came out inadvertently over Twitter because I was doing an ‘Ask Me Anything.’”
Hottinger is often there to witness it and says many fans hand Hale letters, compelled to tell her their story. “‘I don’t have time to tell you everything; this says everything,’” Hottinger says, adding that Hale is sort of a heavy-metal role model to young fans.“ Watching little girls look at Lzzy, because she’s such a force onstage…they’re like ‘Wait, I can do that?’”
Halestorm’s diverse fan base is another sign of the expanding worldview of hard rock, which has been maligned for a history of misogyny and male gaze. At a 2023 show by Greta Van Fleet at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, fans waved rainbow flags in front of the band, a show of support of GVF singer Josh Kiszka, who publicly came out that year.
“You can look out at the audience any given night, and it’s all walks of life,” Hale says. “The rock show doesn’t care who you like to kiss, what you like to wear, what you do for a living. We’re all the same.”
In this week’s rock-focused episode of Nashville Now, Hale and Hottinger break down Nashville’s vital scene rock and share what it was like playing for Ozzy Osbourne at his final show. Check out the full episode below.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.
