I know that, since the 1960s, many conservative/fundamentalist churches have railed against rock music and supposed Satanic/occultic influences, especially in the “Heavy Metal” genre. Many people are quick to point out that a lot of these musicians’ associations with such beliefs are actually fairly minimal, and they do it just for the supposed shock value. How many rock stars have actually taken occultic-type beliefs seriously?
The classic example is the band Mayhem:
Jimmy Page? (Led Zepplin)
Yep, it seems Jimmy was quite obsessed with the occult during the 70’s, Allister Crowley in particular. He even owned an occult book shop and Crowley’s summer house.
From Wiki…
It’s uncertain what he believes today but at the time he did take it quite seriously and it seems it was more a personal matter than it was for the shock value.
The lead singer for Godsmack, Sully Erna, is Wiccan. I’ve heard that some of the other members are as well, but I haven’t read statements from them directly.
I have seen King Diamond (King who?) claim to be a practicing Satanist. Of course, I don’t know whether or not he is a theistic Satanist.
The theme song from “Billy Jack” was a tune called “One Tin Soldier.” The group that recorded it was called Coven, and I’ve heard they came by the name honestly, as they really used to be into black magic and the occult.
There is always that guy in some band whose name I forget with the upside down crossed burned into his forehead.
Does that count as taking it seriously? 
Define “occultic-type belief”. Would believing in something like reincarnation count? Would being a Wiccan count? What about a Buddhist? Some of the people claiming that there was a connection between the occult and rock or heavy metal music might define “occult” as “any non-Judeo-Christian religion”.
It’s hard to know just how seriously anyone else takes their religion, especially if they don’t talk about it a lot in public. If I don’t generally go out for meals with someone, they probably wouldn’t know that I keep kosher, for example, never mind how often I pray or something like that. Or what if someone’s the Wiccan (or whatever) equivalent of a “Christmas and Easter Christian” or a cultural Jew- do they take their religion seriously, or not? It gets even stickier when you start getting into religions like neopaganism, where there’s not a central authority or collection of writings to define what it’s supposed to mean to practice that religion.
Oh, good point! It would be difficult to really define occultic belief…
I suppose I was thinking of people who actively engage in satanic rituals and expect to get results from the practice. Not that I would lump Wicca in with Satanism…
And practitioners of Aleister Crowley’s “Thelema”, as well. I do not think they like being lumped together with satanists, either!
Black Widow?
I remember their Come to the Sabbat was a track on a compilation lp I played a fair bit in the early 70s.
“Come, come, come to the Sabbat,
come to the Sabbat, come”
Sparky812’s mention of Aleister Crowley reminded me of…David Bowie!
They were part of the violent black metal scene in Norway, but that had more to do with Norwegian history than anything that would be considered the occult.
He’s a LaVeyan Satanist, not a devil worshipper.
Glen Benton of Deicide. He also claimed that he would commit suicide on his 30th birthday. He now lives in a gated community and is active in his local PTA.
What a pussy. Way to completely lose your edge man.
Apparently, not anymore…
link
The OP maybe on to something though, either these guys grew out of their beliefs or it really was for the shock value.