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It's not often you find someone willing to admit they're a so-called "fifth Beatle.'' It's even less common to find someone who's at peace with it.

Singer and guitarist Terry Glaze just might be that exception.

Glaze has toured with Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, had a hit song featured on MTV and done shows with everyone from Bad English to REO Speedwagon.

But in 1986, Glaze left the group Pantera shortly before its members became global superstars. He'd helped found the glam-metal band in Texas five years earlier with brothers Vinnie Paul Abbott and Darrell Abbott, Tommy Bradford and Donnie Hart. Glaze was 16 years old at the time.

Along with Kiss and Van Halen covers, Pantera played original songs. Within a few years, they were playing with the likes of Megadeth and Dokken.

At a recent solo performance at the Irish Channel Restaurant & Pub in Crofton, Glaze explained that he left Pantera because he wasn't keen on the band's deeper foray into heavy metal music. He was also tired of the amount of influence held by the Abbotts.

"It just wasn't a democracy," Glaze said between sets. "The two brothers and their father — who was our manager — that was 60 percent, and they didn't split their votes."

Glaze left the band in 1986; a decade later, Pantera was known around the world. From the 1992 album "Vulgar Display of Power'' to "Reinventing the Steel" in 2000, Pantera's songs were played on the radio and on television.

"I always think I'm kinda like the Pete Best of the Beatles," Glaze said. "I'm the Pete Best of Pantera."

The ‘fifth Beatle' is the term most-often used to describe Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles who was unceremoniously replaced by Ringo Starr.

"I didn't know what was going to happen," Glaze said. "Who knew?"

Still, Glaze said it doesn't bother him. After leaving Pantera, he immediately joined another band. Lord Tracy — a word play on the name of pornographic star Tracy Lords — ended up getting a record deal before Pantera did, and Lord Tracy had a hit with the song "Out with the Boys."

The song's video, which can be viewed online, is an '80s masterpiece. Shot in the same bar where Mˆtley Crüe filmed the video for "Girls, Girls, Girls," Glaze has long hair, sky-blue spandex shorts, a pale yellow tank top and white sneakers. During the video, he is surrounded by women.

"It was just us in bicycle shorts running around with girls in bikinis," Glaze said. "It was a pretty good day."

Glaze said Lord Tracy disbanded around 1991, although most of its members have since reunited for performances, issuing "Porn Again'' in 2008. Pantera, meanwhile, broke up in 2003.

Today, Glaze still looks like he did all those years ago. His face is smooth, and his hair is long. He has been married 22 years to his wife Lori, who is a scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The couple moved to Bowie in 1994.

"We couldn't afford a house in Los Angeles, so we found a house in Bowie," Glaze said.

Glaze's two daughters, 16-year-old Evelyn and 14-year-old Ida, attend Bowie High School. Glaze said that although both girls are musically inclined, they are more focused on ballet and modern dance.

Glaze spends his time raising his girls — and playing music. His band, The Crayfish, performs every month at the Irish Channel. The Crayfish consist of Glaze, multi-instrumentalist Bob Porambo, Bowie councilman and drummer Jimmy Marcos and bassist Tom Rodante.

"He knows everybody in the business," Rodante said. "He's been to the top of the mountain, for all intents and purposes. He chose to stay home and be the stay-at-home dad."

Glaze said he has no regrets with his life. After all, he still plays almost every day.

"I want to be like Neil Young, I want to play until I can't stand up anymore," Glaze said. "I want to be doing this forever. I'm not in this for any other reason than I love to play music."

E-mail Sarah Richards at srichards@gazette.net.