Forum.RttP{Owen Brown: World's Oldest Metalhead }

(other Megadeth thread reminded me of this)

Herefordshire Grandad Loves Heavy Metal
news.bbc.co.uk

Britain's oldest rocker Owen Brown thrashes out heavy metal music for hours in his garden shed – to spare the ears of his 83-year-old wife.

Rocker Owen, 82, spends up to four hours each day in the wooden 'sanctuary' where he stashes his 70-strong record collection including his favourite artists – American thrash band Megadeath.

He uses a 26-year-old record player to blast out mega-riffs by Metallica, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

Owen plays the music so loud that even his great great-grandchildren ask him to turn it down.

Young-at-heart Owen is looking forward to his first ever concert next month – a trip to the Birmingham NEC to see Megadeth.

Owen, of Weobley, Herefordshire, praised his patient wife Maria, 83, for being so understanding.

He said: ''I started listening to Elvis and I guess my love for rock and roll grew from there and now I listen to heavy metal.

''Megadeath will be my first ever concert. I'm sure I'll be the oldest there but I don't care, I just really enjoy the music and will take in the atmosphere. Rock has a great exciting rhythm that other music doesn't have.

"Most people grow out of it but I just never did and still listen to rock as much as possible and will probably listen to it for the rest of my life now."

Grandfather-of-20 Owen started listening to music in his early 20s, when he bought one of Cliff Richard's early records.

But his music taste has hardened since then and he now likes nothing more than settling down in the shed with a cup of tea, his slippers and heavy metal on the speakers.

He said: ''I was about 23 when I first started listening to music and suprisingly it was Cliff Richard who got me listening.

"Then I moved on to Elvis and I never looked back.

''I lived in a house with no electricity in the Sixties but made sure I had a battery-powered stereo.

"My wife is a very patient woman but it does get too loud for her so in the summer I go into the garden shed and have a listen.

''It's great because I can play it as loud as I want in there. I can sit back with a drink and listen to Megadeth with no worries in the world.

''When all the kids were at home they would often ask me to stop playing it or turn it down but it's only worth listening to at full blast."

Owen's son Pedro, a drummer with aspiring Cajun band Whiskey River, says he and his four siblings would plead with dad to turn it down.

But Pedro says he owes his musical ear to his fathers influence. The 57-year-old said: ''I remember as a kid he would play his music so loud it was unbelievable.

''In a complete role reversal my brothers and sisters would often ask him to turn it down.

''He still goes into his shed now and belts it out. He's not deaf in the slightest but just loves playing it loud."

Owen Brown video interview:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7826717.stm