God by Accident:
Peter Steele and the Weight of Fame

Peter Steele attracted constant attention from every kind of person imaginable. Women, men, boys, girls, groupies, devoted fans, opportunists, hangers-on, and then even more women.

A Phone Number He Gave to Anyone

For years, his mother answered countless phone calls at the family's Brooklyn home from fans all over the world. These people had somehow managed to get the family's phone number simply because Peter never minded giving it out whenever someone asked.

He had a remarkable effect on people. After sharing a drink with him, or even just a brief conversation, complete strangers often walked away convinced Peter had become their new best friend.

The Gift of Undivided Attention

Part of the reason was the way he treated people. Whether he was talking to a greengrocer or the head of a record label, Peter gave them his full attention. The person standing in front of him genuinely felt important, despite the fact that Peter's sheer presence naturally dominated any room he entered.

It was one of his greatest gifts. One that came naturally.

Many of these "new friends," including those bold enough to telephone his family home, weren't obsessive stalkers at all. They were simply admirers hoping to connect with the legendary Peter Steele.

Phil Anselmo Called Just to Hear His Voice

One of the many fans who called the Ratajczyk household was Phil Anselmo, a young musician from New Orleans who had just joined the Texas metal band Pantera.

"When Retaliation came out, it completely blew my mind. That album was unbelievably brutal. It was monumental. It had an enormous influence on the New Orleans scene. Pete Steele was taking hardcore ideas and mixing them with Black Sabbath long before that became fashionable. He played this distorted bass that drifted into long, mournful passages, and that became one of the defining sounds of the New Orleans scene.

"I had friends back in the '80s who were such huge Peter Steele fans that they'd call his house. I even called him myself before we ever met in person, just so I could hear his voice. Just to say, 'Hi, Pete. I'm a huge fan of what you do.'"

When Admiration Crossed the Line

Alongside these harmless admirers, some of whom would later become metal stars themselves, there were others whose obsession crossed into something much darker.

Some searched through his rubbish looking for locks of his hair. Others attempted to break into his home.

Most fans simply visited his house on 18th Street while travelling to New York, took a photograph or two, and quietly left. A small number, however, took their fascination far beyond reasonable limits.

Gold Records and a Reversal of Fortune

By November 1995, Bloody Kisses had been certified Gold after selling more than 500,000 copies.

Peter Steele had gone from being public enemy number one to one of the most recognisable figures in the world of rock music.

By the mid-1990s, people no longer wanted to see Peter Steele die. They wanted to see him very much alive, and preferably naked.

The Woman in the Red Fur Coat

One of Peter's sisters, Cathy, remembers one particularly obsessed fan:

"She showed up at our house on Christmas Day while Peter wasn't home. My mother answered the door, and there she was standing on the porch wearing nothing underneath a red fur coat. My mother looked at her and said, 'You little hussy, you're going to catch cold dressed like that!'"

Peter later retold the story during a 1995 appearance on The Jerry Springer Show, in an episode devoted to groupies.

Stories like these seemed almost surreal to those who remembered the barbaric Petrus Steele from the Carnivore years and his prominent role in New York's hardcore scene.

Nobody Was More Bewildered Than Peter

Yet no one was more bewildered by his newfound fame than Peter himself.

His talent had produced Bloody Kisses, an album that earned him a thousand new fans for every old fan he lost. In 1993, he predicted exactly what would happen:

"The average Type O Negative fan is going to hate it. They'll think we've sold out and call us poseurs, but I really don't care. We're going to appeal to a much wider audience. If someone who's never heard Type O Negative before listens to this album, likes it, and then goes back to the first two records, they're going to be in for a real shock. It's like peeling the skin off the face of a beautiful woman and finding maggots crawling underneath."