Metal Mondays: Transgender artists shape metal music history

Seattle is the undisputed epicenter of grunge music, a subgenre of rock characterized by its combination of heavy metal, distorted guitar and punk characteristics. Millions of fans listen to Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains each year, crediting the leaders of the ‘90s West Coast scene with jump-starting the genre.

Although those groups certainly propelled grunge into the mainstream of musical culture, they were not the founders of the genre. Bam Bam, the original grunge group, contrasts greatly with the typical masculine and white makeup of the most famous grunge groups — lead singer Tina Bell was a Black woman who stood at 5 feet, 2 inches and adorned herself in a messy blonde wig.