Lzzy Hale Opens Up About New Vocal Mastery After 28 Years Fronting Halestorm
She shares how decades of training led her to sing with ease, plus details on the upcoming Everest album and tour.
Summary
- Lzzy Hale says she rarely warms up anymore, crediting decades of vocal work and advice from Ronnie James Dio.
- Halestorm’s new album Everest arrives August 8, produced by Grammy-winner Dave Cobb.
- The band is touring with Iron Maiden, playing Black Sabbath’s final show, and launching the nEVEREST North American tour.
Long before Lzzy Hale stood under arena lights, she was perched in a dogwood tree somewhere along the Appalachian Trail, testing her voice against the leaves and scaring squirrels. “I wasn’t brave enough to sing in front of my parents or my brother,” she told Chaoszine.
So she sang to the trees instead, pretending their rustling was applause.
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That shy kid would eventually front Halestorm, but the roots of her vocal discipline were planted in that forest.
Formal Lessons
At sixteen, the woods gave way to a classroom. Steve Whiteman, frontman of the ’80s band Kix, became her vocal mentor. “He taught me how to warm up and where all of my resonance areas are,” Lzzy explained.
The lessons were technical, deliberate, and essential. For years, warming up took 30 minutes to an hour before every performance.
That routine carried into her thirties, until something unexpected happened.
The Shift
Turning forty flipped a switch she didn’t see coming. “Because I’ve been doing this so long… it’s almost like my body already knows how to kick into gear,” she said. Now, unless she’s fighting a cold, her voice requires little to no warmup. Singing live feels as natural as breathing.
“You kind of take an inventory every day,” she added. “It feels like breathing to me now or having a comfortable conversation.”
Dio’s Advice
This wasn’t blind luck. She credits a warning and a compliment from one of metal’s most revered voices. In 2009, Halestorm opened for Heaven & Hell, giving her the chance to meet Ronnie James Dio. “He pinched my cheeks and said, ‘Oh, you got it kid. You have the voice.’” Dio told her about the stages every singer faces, cautioning that avoiding drugs and alcohol would be key to longevity. Lzzy took the advice seriously and, years later, finds herself in the phase Dio once described.
Backup Plan
Just in case her voice ever falters, Lzzy keeps a safety net: old cassette tapes of her earliest vocal lessons. “I ended up putting myself through kind of my own little bootcamp,” she said, revisiting those recordings to refresh her technique. It’s part of a lifelong effort to maintain her foundation, ready to retrain if needed.
Fear and the Stage
Night after night, she steps onstage with one rule: no fear. “Every night I walk out on stage, I break through that fear wall,” Lzzy said. “Fear has nothing to do with it… or you are never going to reach the magic.” The ease she’s found after nearly three decades with Halestorm allows her to perform with full presence. “I let my body and my spirit do the rest of the work,” she added.
New Album: Everest
Halestorm’s sixth studio album, Everest, arrives August 8 via Atlantic Records. Produced by Grammy-winner Dave Cobb, known for his work with Brandi Carlile and Chris Stapleton, the record dives into the band’s hard-won journey.
“Our album Everest is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings,” Lzzy previously stated.
The music explores the emotional highs and lows of love, loss, frustration, and determination.
Singles and Videos
The lead single, Darkness Always Wins, has already made its way into the top 20 at Active Rock radio in the US and onto key playlists in the UK.
The follow-up video for the album’s title track, Everest, takes a more dramatic route, mixing apocalyptic imagery with themes of survival and resilience.
Tours and Big Stages
The band is currently supporting Iron Maiden on a European run. Next, they’ll perform at Black Sabbath’s final show on July 5, then head back to the US for a tour with Volbeat.
In September, Halestorm will co-headline the nEVEREST North American tour with Lindsey Stirling and Apocalyptica.
Long Climb, Steady Feet
Halestorm’s path has been anything but flat. The band, fronted by Lzzy with drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith, has stacked up platinum and gold certifications, sold-out headlining tours, and festival slots alongside icons like Heaven & Hell, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, and Judas Priest.
Lzzy has also broken ground as Gibson’s first female brand ambassador and host of AXS TV’s A Year In Music.
Critics Weigh In
Rolling Stone called Darkness Always Wins “catchy, brooding, and dramatic in all the ways we love Halestorm songs to be.” Revolver praised its “exquisite minor-key melodicism” and “metal-chunked bridge,” not to mention “loud-as-hell requiem bells” and “a classically rippin’ rock guitar solo.”
No Coasting Allowed
Even as her voice finds its groove, Lzzy knows the work never really stops. As she put it:
“You never know — things may change and I may have to put myself through training again, which is lovely.”
After nearly three decades, the kid in the dogwood tree is still climbing.
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