Budgie is a Welsh hard rock/heavy metal band from Cardiff. They are described by author Gary Sharpe-Young as one of the earliest heavy metal bands and a seminal influence to many acts of that scene, with fast, heavy rock (an influence on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and acts such as Metallica) being played as early as 1971. The band has been noted as "among the heaviest metal of its day".