The incredibly massive (see facts below) lead singer of trashcore band Carnivore and, later, the tongue-in-cheek doom'n'gloom Type O Negative. In both bands he served as the creative catalyst for most of the band's material.
He formed Carnivore in 1983 and - together with band mates Louie, Keith and Marc - released their first vinyl in 1985. The partnership came to an end in 1989 where Steele took up a number of icky jobs, including a park ranger in New York City.
A year later, he forms Type O Negative with drummer Sal Abrusco. The history of the band has been well-documented in its own respective node, so I won't copy it here.
A couple of fun facts:
- Born January 4th 1962, it makes him about as old as your parents.
- He writes all the songs and lyrics and shares vocal duties with guitarist Kenny Hickey. He plays bass.
- His favorite music and inspiration is The Beatles and Black Sabbath. It shows.
- During the Bloody Kisses tour, he played an upright bass as you would a normal bass guitar - hanging from a chain around his shoulder. If this doesn't illustrate badass behavior, I'm not sure what does.
- Is known to make lots of self-deprecating, sarcastic remarks. To him, Type O Negative is not meant to be taken seriously, but it is all too frequently.
- He did a full-page nude spread (no pun intended) in Playgirl. He was reportedly "very disheartened" when he learned that over half of the magazine's subscribers were male.
- He's 6'6" tall (somewhere around the 190 centimeters for us Europeans), making him fucking huge.
- Used to be an alcoholic. Still has a preferred taste for red wine. Is often mistaken as having vampiric tendencies because of this, which fits in nicely with the band's sarcastic approach to the goth culture.
Editor's note: Peter Steele died of heart failure on April 14, 2010, aged 48.