Satan is the original influencer. Virtually all of the major religions have some version of the devil, the archetypal master of human temptation and sin. He has been a staple of popular culture since the beginning of time, dazzling audiences with starring roles in early religious texts and songs like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band and DMX’s “Damien.” While The Dark Lord remains active in his work of sin, some might point out he has fallen off in the way of clout in the digital age. While he boasts an impressive 1.4 million followers on Instagram , the Satan account mostly posts recycled memes. This could be seen as a clumsy tactic to attract a younger audience to the culture.

The book Satanic Panic: Pop-Culture Panic in the 1980’s recounts the way the devil permeated youth culture 40 years ago, hitting fever pitch with co-productions with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Judas Priest. During this time, increasingly risque pop stars like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Prince added to the idea of sinful youths ruining modern society. To underscore how bonkers Satan panic was, in 1990 Judas Priest’s lead singer Rob Halford was called to testify in a Nevada courtroom about subliminal messages in the song “Better by You, Better than Me” from their Stained Class album. The case revolved around the 1985 suicides of two young men, 20-year-old James Vance and 19-year-old Ray Belknap, whose families said were under the influence of Judas Priest’s Satanic messaging when they took their own lives. The case was dismissed.

Satan’s relationship with music goes way back. Perhaps one of the biggest historical ironies is that the organ—an instrument commonly found in churches—was once considered Satan’s instrument. This idea is a bit abstract, but according to some interpretations of the bible, the devil “had the makings of percussion instruments and wind instruments [such as the organ] built into his very being.” Beelzebub even has his own musical note, or rather interval, the difference between two pitches. Starting in the 11th century, European music nerds feared and outright banned the so-called Devil's Interval, which you can achieve by playing a tritone. This evil dissonance has been featured in the likes of Rush’s “YYZ” and Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath.”