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The history and etymology of heavy metal as a term for a modern musical genre is unclear at best. The phrase itself has its origins in the vocabulary derived from past centuries in alchemy, metallurgy and chemistry. Thus do man modern bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden take their names from terms that incorporate the heavy metal influence.

Very early in the countercultutre movement the term heavy metal was used in the 1962 novel Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. The novel has in it a character named Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid. Burroughs uses the term heavy metal to mean illicit or addictive drugs for his next novel Nova Express in 1964. This novel actually refers to metal music in context, for this reason William S. Burroughs has frequently been given credit for coining the term in American literature, but there are other places it was being used as well around that time.

The first musical recording to use the phrase heavy metal was Steppenwolf in their single Born to Be Wild. This song refers to heavy metal thunder and this is metaphoric of American automobiles or motorcycles of the period.

There are also arguments that the New York Times may have coined the phrase originally when reviewing a Jimi Hendrix performance, call its sound as heavy metal that was falling from the sky. Yet this source has not ever been officially verified.

Eventually heavy metal would become the term synonymous with the sounds of bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and many others to follow. By the 1980s the term would become forever associated with a new breed of rock and roll, punk rock and other musical influences. Heavy metal would also forever be linked with anthemic live raw guitars and stage shows.