Long Reads

In-depth stories about Peter Steele - the fans who found his phone number, the Playgirl cover nobody saw coming, and the years when the weight of it all began to show.

Peter Steele photographed from a low angle against a pink stone wall during the 1990s

God by Accident: Peter Steele and the Weight of Fame

Fans phoned his Brooklyn home - Phil Anselmo among them. Obsessives went through his rubbish. And Bloody Kisses went Gold.

Peter Steele seated outdoors among plants, tattooed arms and long black hair

Fame Changes Everything: Type O Negative After Bloody Kisses

The Stalker, Peter's refusal to tour, Sal Abruscato's departure and the arrival of Johnny Kelly.

Peter Steele photographed against a brick wall during the mid-1990s Playgirl era

Peter Steele's Playgirl Cover: Rock's Most Unlikely Pin-Up

August 1995: how the shoot happened, why he found it hilarious, and the audience he never expected.

Peter Steele singing into a microphone on stage, wearing a tank top and chain

Escape from the Arena

Carnivore's 2006 resurrection, the Wacken show that made it legitimate, and what it cost him inside Type O Negative.

Peter Steele leaning against a green-lit brick wall at night, arms crossed

The Paranoia and the Peace He Couldn't Find

The lean years of 2001 and 2002 - cocaine, paranoia, a provocation after 9/11, and the one night a year he let his guard down.

Peter Steele in a grey tank top, tattooed arms folded, photographed in the late 1990s

The Beginning of the End

Money, drugs, dumbbells on the tour bus and the fishbowl of fame - the late 1990s, remembered by those who knew him.