Before the Sunset Strip was crawling with glam-metal bands, before MTV was wall-to-wall spandex, somebody had to prove that a metal band could actually top the charts. That somebody was Quiet Riot — and when they did it, they didn’t just score a hit. They kicked down a door the whole decade came pouring through.

Quiet Riot is the Los Angeles heavy-metal band whose 1983 album Metal Health became the first heavy-metal album ever to hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, led by singer Kevin DuBrow and the smash “Cum on Feel the Noize.” They were the icebreaker for the entire 80s metal explosion.

The album that made history

Metal Health was released in March 1983, and it did something no metal record had done before: it reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That was a genuine watershed. Until then, heavy metal was a concert-hall and album-cut phenomenon; suddenly it was the biggest album in the country. The lineup — Kevin DuBrow on vocals, Carlos Cavazo on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Frankie Banali on drums — had cracked the mainstream wide open.

The record’s two anthems still ring out at any 80s party: the title track “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” and, above all, “Cum on Feel the Noize.”

The cover that broke the ceiling

Here’s a detail fans love: “Cum on Feel the Noize,” the song that carried Metal Health to No. 1, wasn’t even a Quiet Riot original — it’s a cover of the British glam-rock band Slade. And the band didn’t especially want to record it. According to drummer Frankie Banali, the cover was the producer’s idea — a “safety” commercial track — while DuBrow had actually lobbied to cover a different Slade song. The one they were reluctant about became the hit that made history. It’s a perfect reminder that in the studio, the reluctant choice sometimes turns out to be the door-opener.

Remember when a metal band hitting No. 1 actually felt impossible — and then Quiet Riot did it, and within a couple of years the whole scene followed? Being first is easy to forget once the party’s crowded, but Quiet Riot got there before almost anyone.

Why Quiet Riot endures

Quiet Riot’s chart-topping breakthrough is a cornerstone of the 80s metal story — the proof of concept that convinced labels the genre could sell to the masses. Every glam-metal band that flooded the charts in the years after owes a little something to Metal Health clearing the path. Kevin DuBrow’s booming voice and those two unkillable anthems keep the band on every serious 80s playlist. First through the door, and the door never closed again.

The Randy Rhoads connection

Here’s a piece of history that gives Quiet Riot even deeper roots in the story of metal: the band was originally co-founded in the mid-1970s by a young guitar prodigy named Randy Rhoads — the same Randy Rhoads who would go on to become Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary guitarist and one of the most revered players in all of heavy metal. Rhoads was in Quiet Riot’s earliest incarnation before leaving to join Ozzy’s band, where he helped define the sound of metal guitar before his tragic early death. So the band that broke the mainstream ceiling for metal in 1983 also happened to be the launching pad for one of the genre’s greatest guitarists years earlier. That’s a remarkable amount of metal history running through one L.A. band — another reason Quiet Riot’s place in the story is bigger than a single chart-topping album.

FAQ

What made Quiet Riot’s Metal Health historic?
It was the first heavy-metal album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, in 1983.

What are Quiet Riot’s biggest songs?
“Cum on Feel the Noize” and “Bang Your Head (Metal Health).”

Is “Cum on Feel the Noize” a cover?
Yes — it’s a cover of the British glam-rock band Slade, and it was reportedly the producer’s idea to record it.

Who was the lead singer of Quiet Riot?
Kevin DuBrow, the band’s frontman and one of the most recognizable voices of early 80s metal.

Who was Quiet Riot’s famous early guitarist?
Randy Rhoads, who co-founded the band in the 1970s before leaving to become Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary guitarist — one of the most revered players in metal history.

Quiet Riot opened the door — see who walked through in our best 80s hair bands guide, or raise a fist with Twisted Sister next.