Teleprompters are display devices that show the person speaking an electronic visual of a speech, script or in some cases, song lyrics. Numerous hard rock and heavy metal artists have used them including Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. It’s often not so much that the artists can’t remember the lyrics, but is provided as a safeguard in case a singer has a momentary lapse — which when artists play lengthy sets or have a run of many concert dates in a relatively short period — is bound to happen.
Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson previously spoke out against teleprompters, specifically calling out Halford. “I never realized that people were using autocues. What the f*ck is that all about? People pay good money and you can’t even remember the sodding words. The daftest one I ever saw was [Judas Priest’s] ‘Breaking The Law’. It’s on the f*cking autocue. ‘Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law’ — guess what? — ‘breaking the law.’ It’s ludicrous.”
Recently, a few fans criticized Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil for employing a teleprompter on The Stadium Tour, but many more came to the singer’s defense. YouTube user Justin Newton uploaded several videos of the band’s July 5 concert in St. Louis, Missouri, where a teleprompter is visible in front of Neil.
Sirius XM DJ and rock ambassador Eddie Trunk doesn’t see a problem with and posted Wednesday on Twitter: “Don’t know why it’s a big deal to some that some singers use a prompter on stage. It doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me, & should bother everyone else is if the singer is actually singing & the band actually playing LIVE at a LIVE rock show!”
Some fan replies to Trunk included: “I get a lot of artists use it but how do you not know the words to your own songs? That baffles me. I guess I just remember the good ol’ days when live was truly live and you didn’t need tracks or prompters.” Another said: “Use a teleprompter and fans complain. Don’t use one and the fans complain he didn’t know the words. As if every one of us hasn’t walked into a room and forgot why we went in there.”
Even most fans responding on the Blabbermouth Twitter thread of the subject, a site that has fans who can be very critical of most things, didn’t see it as a big deal. One wrote: “I’ve been in the live music industry for 20+ yrs. This is nothing new, and is a non-story. Many performers who’ve been around a while use them, especially if they have decades of songs to cover over an hour/2 hour set.” Another wrote: “This is BS! Shouldn’t even be an issue. Vince & MC are being scrutinized for every little thing. Lots of performers (In all genres) with a large catalog use teleprompters. If that helps Vince give a better performance. I’m all for it! Everyone benefits!”
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