Germany’s Metal Hammer magazine spoke with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford about The Ballad Of Judas Priest, the official documentary chronicling the 50-plus-year history of the iconic band.
When asked about the fact that former guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing was interviewed for the film, despite the guitarist’s previous strained relationships with his former bandmates, Halford said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “I think that respect is still there. I think that the love and respect that we still have for each other is still there. And the fact that he’s as important to Judas Priest now as he was then in telling the story, it had to be that way. It had to be that way — because he was there at the very beginning, before I even personally joined the band. So his value and the work that he created in his time with Judas Priest — the fact that we still play a lot of songs that K.K. wrote with myself and with [guitarist] Glenn [Tipton] — it’s really important and vital. And I think it sends a message out to the fans and to everybody else in the metal world that even though there is a separation from being included in the band, or not in the band, when we go out in today’s world, that’s irrelevant. The fact that we still do have this respect for each other is important.”
When inquiring about the possibility of a reunion with Downing, Halford stated, “Well, I think what he said in the documentary was simple and straightforward and eloquent, that he wasn’t feeling certain things.”
“When you go to work with music, you really have to wanna get on that stage,” the singer explained. “You can’t hold anything back. You have to be there for the right reasons. If you’re not up there for the right reasons, then you don’t really have the right to be on that stage. You can’t just be going through the motions. If you’re just going there ’cause you want the check at the end of the tour, it’s none of that. It’s just a really potent internal feeling that makes you wanna get on that stage and give yourself with that amount of honesty and conviction to your fans. And if you’re not feeling that, then you do what K.K. did.”
The Ballad Of Judas Priest will receive its North American premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian international documentary film festival, which will present documentaries from around the world to audiences in Toronto from April 23rd to May 3rd.
The film made its debut at the 76th Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival, in February.
Also, despite online rumors, there are no current confirmed streaming dates for the documentary on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
12 Responses
I was always amazed that four guys who grew up together all had that much talent who just happened to be neighbors…and they cultivated it for years to get better and better…it was so organic, you can’t duplicate what they did. What I see now is a facsimile of what they were.
Yeah,K.K. is still very important to Judas Priest…..the band still performs the music he wrote with Priest at their live gigs!
I hope for K.K.’s eventual return to Judas Priest. If Black Sabbath can do it with Bill Ward, why not Judas Priest and K.K. Downing?
Rattle,
I agree and hope so, as well.
Depends on whether Glenn says he can I suppose.
Read KK’s book if you haven’t already – you might understand my comment a bit better.
it’s refreshing to see former hard rock/metal bandmates who had their differences but can play (music) nice together when being honored (by the rarhof). respect the priest for their recorded legacy and for respecting their fans.
I completely agree, E.
As a diehard Priest fan, I would love nothing more then to see KK back in the fold!! I agree with Rattlehead with Ward and Black Sabbath reunited.
That took 20 years tho which, sadly, time is not on Priest’s side. The Rock Hall induction in 2022 gave us all a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately nothing has materialized since. Halford was out for 11 years and came back to open arms. One can dream that this may happen someday with KK….
They should have brought him back when Glenn started going downhill. It would have made more sense than anything else they’ve done to fill that void. I recently saw KK’s Priest in concert, and will be seeing them again in September. KK can still shred and it was an incredible show. So when I read that you can’t hold anything back from this article, I don’t have a clue what Rob is talking about. He definitely didn’t hold anything back when I saw him, and if I’m being completely honest, Rob can’t say the same thing when last I saw JP.
In a selfish way, I like having both bands out there and hope they don’t bring him back. But for KK, I hope he gets a chance to go back to the mighty Priest where he belongs.
I agree, Wrecked Neck,
When it became clear, that Tipton was no longer physically capable of touring, that was the perfect time to bring Downing back into the band. But I guess at that point, emotions were still running high and some members could not move past it for the betterment of the fans, and the band, such a shame.