Greg Prato of the Long Island Pulse spoke with Judas frontman and Metal God, Rob Halford. Some quotes from the article appear below.
Discussing the band’s performance with James Durbin on American Idolstrong:
“We’d been following what James Durbin had been doing on the show, and James was bringing metal onto American Idol, which no other artist had done up until that point. There was some kickback from certain elements of the metal community, saying, ‘What the hell are you doing? How dare you be on American Idol?’ And our response was, ‘Who would not push back on an opportunity to be in the homes of 30 million viewers in America and beyond?’ It was firstly to do it for James, because he’s a great talent, and then secondly, it was to keep spreading the gospel of metal through Judas Priest.”
Talking about Long Island metalheads:
“I suppose it’s just the fabric of the people there. It’s extremely intense in terms of the passion of the metalheads on Long Island. I guess it’s just what makes Long Island unique, really. It reminds us a little bit of where we’re from, in the Midlands [of England]. The Midlands region is hard-working, tough people that can be in your face but have got your back. And they’re very proud of their heritage and their roots. I think that’s what we get from the Long Island crowd. It’s good to see those words on a tour itinerary.”
On whether he sees Priest continuing beyond Redeemer of Souls and its supporting tour?
“You’re inspired by the initial feedback of enthusiasm and support from your fan base, so that only encourages you to consider going through the process again. After this tour completes—we’ll be working through most of 2015—I’m sure that there will be another opportunity where we finish a touring cycle and we consider what to do next. My hope is that we’ll be making another Priest record.”
Read more at the Long Island Pulse.
source: lipulse.com
22 Responses
This just in, A defiant Bruce Dickenson said he could easily defeat Rob Halford at Angry Birds, Boggle, and Irish step dancing.
Please don’t quit your day job.
Agreed.
I love Priest and welcome any new album from them, but I have to say their appearance on American Idol was nothing short of a heavy metal abortion.
KISS & Judas Priest have done American Idol and I get that. Why not explore a different option to showcase your music in front of millions of people. A lot of kids who are into other types of music might think different when they see this type of music. Now if you are going to go on it and lay a egg like a certain band did….ehhhhhhh not so smart.
Considering the state if the music business Priest was exposed to a lot of homes if at lest a quater of the people exposed start liking it it’s worth it. Saw on YouTube a few mounths back a version of
French American idol with hot girl who thought sing a pop song belted out a gutteral
growl so if she inspires a few girls out there worth it. I hate idol but could help with a Heavy Metal rebirth not an abortion.
I sure hope so. It will be a crushing day when Priest announces they’re done. One of the reasons I’m seeing them 3 times next month!
Sure do miss KK Downing…but enjoying the current lineup anyways
I hope they keep going at least for one more album and tour. If and when they decide to call it a career and retire, they need to do one last extra long show that covers their entire, legendary career and have KK be involved. It’d be great to see Glenn and KK standing side by side and rocking out together again even if it’s for the last time. And it’d also be cool to see Priest with a badass three guitar lineup with Glenn, KK and Richie ripping it up together.