Without John Kay, there would be no “Heavy Metal.” He sang the term first in the Steppenwolf song “Born To Be Wild” with the lyrics "I like smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder, racin' with the wind..."), though it was referring to the sound of motorcycles and not music at the time.

John, (born Joachim Fritz Krauledat, 12 April 1944, Tilsit, East Prussia, Germany, now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) escaped oncoming Russian troops in East Prussia in a harsh winter in 1945. Then he and his mother escaped the Russians again under machine gun fire in 1948.

Suffering eye problems (hence the sunglasses) he and his mother eventually made their way to Canada, and then John later made it to California where he eventually formed Steppenwolf and achieved global success.

He is the only remaining member of Steppenwolf, but has semi-retired and is working with animal rights groups that make their and all of our lives better. I thought his music did that.

Kay has been in Wyoming over the last few years in helping in a Nat Geo WILD fundraiser in Moose, Wyoming at the end of last September. He also helped with a 2014 wildlife fundraiser in Jackson, Wyoming. After all, he was “Born To Be Wild.”

I last ran into John at a music festival in Estes Park, Colorado some fifteen years ago. I first met him during my first full-time radio job in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Being a huge rock-star and my first ever interview, he saw how nervous I was and said “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” And he was so smooth and such a pro. Afterwards, he invited me out for pizza, pool and beer.

He helped me more than he’ll ever know, so I toast John today, on his 72nd birthday. Rock on.

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