Horror legend Christopher Lee turns 92, releases metal album

ROCK HARD. Veteran actor Christopher Lee is a devoted heavy metal enthusiast at 92. Photo from The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook fan page.

MANILA — To celebrate his 92nd birthday, Dracula and Lord of the Rings actor Christopher Lee, released ‘Metal Knight’ — a heavy rock mini-album — inspired by the horror films he starred in.

The horror film legend has already released a number of albums under heavy metal, a genre he has long been a devotee.

“I associate heavy metal with fantasy because of the tremendous power that the music delivers,” explained Lee, who possesses a booming, classically-trained bass voice.

The album has four tracks and three alternative edits including two from the Man of La Mancha musical: “I, Don Quixote” and “The Impossible Dream.”

Lee said that Don Quixote is the most metal fictional character he knows adding that, “single handed, he is trying to change the world, regardless of any personal consequences. It is a wonderful character to sing.”

Other songs include “The Toreador March” from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, in its original French, and “My Way,” popularized by Frank Sinatra.

Lee became the oldest performer ever to place in the U.S. Billboard charts with “Jingle Hell,” and was given the Spirit of Metal prize at the Golden Gods Awards in 2010 for his services to metal music.