HotStar: Halestorm

Halestorm’s success story could read like a Hollywood movie script if it weren’t that every bit of it is true. 

Pennsylvania-based siblings Lzzy Hale and brother Arejay, with the help of their parents, launched Halestorm more than a decade ago with the goal of becoming rock stars. That determination has paid off.

Lzzy on guitar and vocals, Arejay on drums, Joe Hottinger on lead guitar and Josh Smith on bass recently won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the lead single, “Love Bites (So Do I),” from 2012’s The Strange Case Of…. over nominees Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Lamb of God, and Marilyn Manson.

Pinnacle Entertainment’s Scott Sokol told Pollstar he could see the female-fronted band’s potential the first time he saw its live show.

“They were rock stars in the traditional sense. You could see that was the draw,” he said. “For a very young band – they were teenagers at the time – you could just feel it, sense it, even early on. This is what they were born and bred to do.”

Several years on the road with acts including Evanescence, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Stone Sour and many others as well as festivals and headlining last year’s “Jagermeister Presents” tour added to the band’s notoriety.

“The key to Halestorm is that they make an emotional connection to every individual in the room at every show,” Sokol said. “They’re doing things that people said they couldn’t do. Somehow, someway, they make fans of everybody.”

Halestorm is on the road with Bullet For My Valentine through the end of May, with festivals and overseas dates in the weeks to follow.