Christopher Lee died Sunday in London after being hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure. He was 93. Lee was best known as the actor who protrayed Saruman in the Lord of the Rings / Hobbit films and for bringing Dracula back to the movie screen with the immortal Bela Lugosi.
But, he also entered the heavy metal world at the age of 90 (!) when he released two full-length metal albums (2010′s Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross and 2013′s Charlemagne: The Omens of Death), two EPs of metal Christmas covers (2012′s A Heavy Metal Christmas and 2013′s A Heavy Metal Christmas Too) and a third, non-holiday-themed covers EP, 2014′s Metal Knight, as well as last December’s holiday single “Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing.”