Well, I was searching the web when I ran into this:
Margaret Priebe is 85 years old...and a huge Metallica fan!!! She's
going to the show on Oct. 3 with her son, Jim Priebe. While Margaret was
fighting cancer - and getting chemo - she'd stay up late and listen to
Metallica on her MP3 player, especially the band's live recording with
the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. She says the heavy metal band got
her through the tough times. "I always liked rock music," Priebe said.
"I love drums, and I like the way they play."
LARGO — Jim Priebe will never forget how he found out: Nine years ago, he called home to check on his mother, a routine how-ya-doin' in the middle of the day. Margaret Priebe — in her mid 70s at the time — was just fine . . . in the garage, car doors open, stereo cranking.
Jim shouted into the phone:
"What's that noise, Mom?!"
She shouted back:
"Metallica!"
Metallica: the iconic thrash quartet, four surly dudes hammering dark, demonic nightmares at head-splitting volumes.
Mama, it turns out, was a metalhead.
• • •
She's 85 now, and still into it.
Mother and son have tickets to Metallica's show at the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday. They wouldn't miss it — not after last year, a hard year for Margaret. She battled lymphoma and chemo and lonely nights in the hospital when the only thing she could do was untangle the headphones of her MP3 player and tune out: Enter Sandman, Bleeding Me, Devil's Dance.
Heavy metal for heavy times.
"I like Metallica — there's nothing wrong with them," says Margaret, who knows she's likely to be the only person at the concert born during the Coolidge administration. "People think I'm weird. But I'm sorry, I like it loud."
At home, on a table next to her favorite chair, are an Art of Knitting DVD, a giant magnifying glass, The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and a magazine devoted to the four men in Metallica: singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.
"Mom likes Lars," says Jim, 48, who builds Koi ponds and waterfalls. "She likes drummers."
"Lars is cute," says Margaret. "But I like 'em all." She also digs Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest. "And I like the Molly Hatchet."
• • •
This isn't some hard-of-hearing joke, mind you. Margaret doesn't use an aid; she hears well enough. This is about someone who for eight decades was denied her inalienable right to rock. And now it's time.
Margaret grew up in Detroit, a fan of drummer Gene Krupa. But: "My mother and father never cared for the orchestras — they thought they were too jazzy."
She took piano lessons to quench her musical thirst. But: "I hated
what I had to play. The scales and music you didn't hear on the radio.
Why couldn't I play what's popular?"
After inspecting plane engines during WWII — B-24s to be exact — Margaret met the man who became her husband. They moved to Cleveland, then Florida, and enjoyed a 44-year marriage until his death.
Well, mostly enjoyed it. "He didn't like the hard music. I couldn't turn on the stuff when he was around."
Now it's just Margaret and Jim. They share a house in the buttoned-down Lakeside Estates neighborhood. About nine years back, Margaret turned on the radio and heard Metallica's 1999 S&M album, recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. She bought it; she blasted it. For the first time in her life, there was no one to tell her no.
"It soothes me," she says, surely the first time in the band's 28-year history that anyone has made that claim. "Metallica takes your mind off of things when you listen to them."
Margaret has been cancer-free for a year. But she still "always has Metallica with her," says Deanna Vannatta, her nurse at Morton Plant Mease Primary Care. "She rocks out!"
Vannatta, 50, remembers the first time she asked what Margaret had on her MP3 player.
"Metallica," she answered.
"Oh," Vannatta said, pausing, "are you sure?"
The rockingest band Margaret ever saw was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, so hearing Metallica live will be like going from lighting cherry bombs to jamming your head in a cannon. She's pumped, however, and she doesn't care if people stare. Margaret likes to live life loudly.
She encourages her son to do the same. Lately, Jim has been teaching himself how to play guitar.
"I think it's good for him," says Margaret. "You don't have to be a certain age to start."
Click me for the original post. Awwww, it felt nice xD.
Margaret Priebe is 85 years old...and a huge Metallica fan!!! She's
going to the show on Oct. 3 with her son, Jim Priebe. While Margaret was
fighting cancer - and getting chemo - she'd stay up late and listen to
Metallica on her MP3 player, especially the band's live recording with
the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. She says the heavy metal band got
her through the tough times. "I always liked rock music," Priebe said.
"I love drums, and I like the way they play."LARGO — Jim Priebe will never forget how he found out: Nine years ago, he called home to check on his mother, a routine how-ya-doin' in the middle of the day. Margaret Priebe — in her mid 70s at the time — was just fine . . . in the garage, car doors open, stereo cranking.
Jim shouted into the phone:
"What's that noise, Mom?!"
She shouted back:
"Metallica!"
Metallica: the iconic thrash quartet, four surly dudes hammering dark, demonic nightmares at head-splitting volumes.
Mama, it turns out, was a metalhead.
• • •
 |
| “I always liked rock music,” said Margaret Priebe. “I like the way they play.” |
Mother and son have tickets to Metallica's show at the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday. They wouldn't miss it — not after last year, a hard year for Margaret. She battled lymphoma and chemo and lonely nights in the hospital when the only thing she could do was untangle the headphones of her MP3 player and tune out: Enter Sandman, Bleeding Me, Devil's Dance.
Heavy metal for heavy times.
"I like Metallica — there's nothing wrong with them," says Margaret, who knows she's likely to be the only person at the concert born during the Coolidge administration. "People think I'm weird. But I'm sorry, I like it loud."
At home, on a table next to her favorite chair, are an Art of Knitting DVD, a giant magnifying glass, The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and a magazine devoted to the four men in Metallica: singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.
"Mom likes Lars," says Jim, 48, who builds Koi ponds and waterfalls. "She likes drummers."
"Lars is cute," says Margaret. "But I like 'em all." She also digs Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest. "And I like the Molly Hatchet."
• • •
This isn't some hard-of-hearing joke, mind you. Margaret doesn't use an aid; she hears well enough. This is about someone who for eight decades was denied her inalienable right to rock. And now it's time.
Margaret grew up in Detroit, a fan of drummer Gene Krupa. But: "My mother and father never cared for the orchestras — they thought they were too jazzy."
 |
| Lars Ulrich talking with Margaret Priebe. |
After inspecting plane engines during WWII — B-24s to be exact — Margaret met the man who became her husband. They moved to Cleveland, then Florida, and enjoyed a 44-year marriage until his death.
Well, mostly enjoyed it. "He didn't like the hard music. I couldn't turn on the stuff when he was around."
Now it's just Margaret and Jim. They share a house in the buttoned-down Lakeside Estates neighborhood. About nine years back, Margaret turned on the radio and heard Metallica's 1999 S&M album, recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. She bought it; she blasted it. For the first time in her life, there was no one to tell her no.
"It soothes me," she says, surely the first time in the band's 28-year history that anyone has made that claim. "Metallica takes your mind off of things when you listen to them."
Margaret has been cancer-free for a year. But she still "always has Metallica with her," says Deanna Vannatta, her nurse at Morton Plant Mease Primary Care. "She rocks out!"
Vannatta, 50, remembers the first time she asked what Margaret had on her MP3 player.
"Metallica," she answered.
"Oh," Vannatta said, pausing, "are you sure?"
The rockingest band Margaret ever saw was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, so hearing Metallica live will be like going from lighting cherry bombs to jamming your head in a cannon. She's pumped, however, and she doesn't care if people stare. Margaret likes to live life loudly.
She encourages her son to do the same. Lately, Jim has been teaching himself how to play guitar.
"I think it's good for him," says Margaret. "You don't have to be a certain age to start."
Click me for the original post. Awwww, it felt nice xD.
This has to be the best granny of all times! I hope she gets well :).
ReplyDeleteDude, you're so original. Really, you can rarely see blogs in which Metallica and Megadeath are on a same sentence whithout insults to one of them. Besides this granny thing is so epic (wished grandma had that kinda spirit)thanks, I enjoy reading your posts, can't believe you're actually a schoolkid, grown up's could actually learn a thing or two about ya.
ReplyDeleteOh, thanks, man. Yeah, I hate it when people start comparing Metallica with Megadeth and vice versa. I just love both. This granny knows that music can really save people from depression. :). Ah, and yeah, I am a schoolkid still. 17 years old, but in school :D. Thanks for this comment :).
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