Headbanging

Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly rock music and heavy  metal music.


The term "headbanger" was coined during Led Zapplin's first US tour in 1969. During a show at the Boston Tea Party, audience members in the first row were banging their heads against the stage in rhythm with the music.

Lemmy from Motorhead, however, said in an interview on the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years, that the term "Headbanger" may have originated in the band's name, as in "Motorheadbanger".Ian Gillian, frontman of Deep Purple, when asked if he invented headbanging he said, "That’s a definite possibility"

In 2005, Terry Balsamo, Evanascence guitarist, incurred a stroke from headbanging. There have also been cases of people incurring whiplash from headbanging such as Craig Jones of Slipknot and it is common to experience headaches and stiff or sore necks as a result of headbanging

There are various styles of headbanging. Various styles are often mixed together according to taste and to the tempo and heaviness of the music. They can also be performed with eyes closed and/or in combination with hand gestures such as the sign  of horns, singing, yelling, and lip syncing. Headbangers' bodies usually bang with the head, reducing the strain on the neck and making the body move in a serpentine, up-and-down fashion to the music. There are a number of different stances a headbanger can adopt, from a wide stance with one foot farther in front than the other to feet wide apart to either side. The stance chosen is usually determined to gain the best base for the headbanger to keep their balance and avoid falling over.