Songfacts®:

• This song was used in the science fiction movie of the same name, and was also featured on the movie's soundtrack album (the film was based on a comic book). Released in 1981, Heavy Metal was an animated film with enough cartoon nudity to get an R rating.
  
  Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Devo are also on the soundtrack.
• Hagar wrote this song with Jim Peterik, who was a member of the band Survivor at the time. Hagar had just signed with Geffen Records, whose executive John Kalodner had signed Survivor and deployed Peterik to help .38 Special write songs. Kalodner arranged the writing session between Hagar and Peterik, which took place in San Francisco.
  
  At first, the pair had trouble coming up with ideas, but then Hagar remembered that his manager had mentioned the Heavy Metal movie was in production and looking for songs, so they decided to write one for the film. They came up with the idea of two metalheads attending a rock show, and the session moved smoothly, which Hagar and Peterik coming up with riffs and lyrics based on those moments of anticipation when waiting for the band to come onstage.
  
  They recorded a demo of the song, and Hagar later recorded it as part of his first Geffen album. An alternate version also earned a spot in the film, but not as the main theme: that honor went to "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" by Don Felder.
• Hagar included a new version of "Heavy Metal" on his 1982 album Standing Hampton.
• Hagar plays "Heavy Metal" at most of his solo shows, but he was never able to slip it into a Van Halen setlist. He joined the group in 1985 and left in 1996, returning for a short stint in 2004.
• This isn't the only song Sammy Hagar wrote for a movie in the '80s. He also contributed the song "This Girl Gets Around" to Footloose and "Winner Takes It All" to Over The Top.