Rob Halford: "I've never been afraid of death"
Rob Halford can remember exactly where he was when he first met Jack Black. “When [Judas] Priest did American Idol [in 2011], he came bursting into the dressing room, ripped his shirt off, and started to scream and throw the Devil horns. That’s the thing about Jack – he knows how to make an entrance!” Rob chuckles wryly.
Tapped by the D to share the wisdom that set him on the path to being the Metal God, Rob admits to being touched by the suggestion. “I’m honoured Tenacious D have asked Priest to be a part of this particular edition of Hammer,” he says. “I think it’s beautiful that Jack and Kyle have always stayed true to each other, they do such great stuff together.” Let the lessons begin.
WITH CHANGE COMES HOPE
“Britain was still recovering from World War II when I was growing up. There was a lot of rebuilding still going on and change in society. The tipping point was the 60s – that’s when culture really shifted around popular music, so I have memories of discovering The Beatles, The Tremeloes, Gerry And The Pacemakers… All these British acts, which was great. I’m happy to have grown up in this time of new hope.”
ABSORB EVERYTHING
“I only worked at the Wolverhampton Grand [Theatre] for a short time, but it was an education. I would work on all these incredible productions from all aspects – comedy, variety, repertory theatre, ballet… I was like a sponge – I drew all of it into me and I dare say it played a role in what I did as a musician.”
YOUR IMAGE TIES INTO YOUR MUSIC
“All the way back to The Beatles wearing suits and having those haircuts, music has been about identity. Look at metalheads – denim and leather, everyone knows you’re a metalhead. For Priest, it was a conscious effort on our part – we were feeling heavy and sounding heavy, but didn’t particularly look it. I found an image the other day where Ian [Hill, bass] is all in white, Ken [Downing, guitar] looks like a musketeer, I’m in a leather jacket and Glenn [Tipton, guitar] is wearing something that looks like he’s took the curtains down. The tipping point was after [1978’s] Stained Class – the conscious effort we made helped identify what metal looked like.”
EVERY GIG IS IMPORTANT
“It doesn’t matter how many people you play to, it should mean something. If you think 10,000 people are more important than 10, then your head is on wrong. If you play to 10,000 people, every single one of them is experiencing that for themselves.”
TRENDS COME AND GO, BUT PASSION IS FOREVER
“When disco came along, the entire industry seemed to turn its back on metal. It was tough for a lot of us, particularly when we were making [1977’s] Sin After Sin, because everyone was telling us metal was dead, it’s all about punk, but we just took a wait-and-see approach. Now, globally, metal is mainstream in ways they’d never have predicted, and it’s inspiring people around the world.”
EVERYTHING PRIEST HAVE ACHIEVED HAS BEEN THROUGH BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
“By the time we reached [1980’s] British Steel, we’d started to feel more confident about who we were and what we were doing. Finally, we could pay the rent and afford a bottle of milk for our cereal! For that first decade, everything we earned went back into the pot. Through sheer determination and self-belief, we got to the tipping point, but we never ever reached a point where it was like, ‘We’ve made it lads so let’s relax.’”
YOU HAVE TO FIND SOBRIETY FOR YOURSELF, BUT YOU CAN FIND STRENGTH IN OTHERS
“I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by loving people all my life who would say, ‘You need to dial it back on the drinking, mate’, and I’d respond with, ‘No, this is just what we do’, especially in music. It’s this stupid thinking that ‘if you don’t have a drink, you’re not having a good time’, ‘if you’re not having coke, you’re not having a good time’, and it’s all ridiculous. But that particular moment, when I said internally ‘I need some help’, was the biggest part of my journey.”
TRUST IN OTHER PEOPLE
“I left Trent [Reznor] a demo of the 2wo material [Rob’s 90s industrial band with guitarist John 5] and he worked on it just because he really enjoyed what we were doing. There was no intent there; it was just a bunch of musicians having a headbang and enjoying what they do, but then it gets into the hands of a genius like Trent Reznor and the Skinny Puppy guys and becomes this new project, 2wo. Sometimes you just have to run with things – it’s good to have focus and a plan, but you cannot do everything alone, and sometimes you just have to trust other people.”
I’M HONOURED TO BE THE METAL GOD
“I can’t say it’s like I go to the toilet thinking, ‘Ooh, I’m the Metal God’, but it all comes from the song [Metal Gods] from British Steel. I started seeing it in the press after that and I immediately drew it in because it’s important. It reminds me of who I am and the job I have to do, and it’s a term of endearment. It’s that ‘metal’ part that really appeals to me – it’s a point of focus.”
IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL TO HELP INSPIRE PEOPLE…
“In the past, I’ve been asked if being gay has done anything for my music. I’ve always said, ‘Probably not.’ If Freddie [Mercury] hadn’t been gay, would he still have been Freddie Mercury? If Rob Halford wasn’t gay, would he still be Rob Halford? It’s a nebulous topic of discussion, but so far as all the trauma you go through before you finally come out of the closet goes, yeah it is important. I was one of the first metalheads to do that, on MTV in 1998, and I’ve seen this fantastic after-effect of people saying I helped them in their journey.”
BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU’LL INSPIRE
“Pink came up to me [at 2022’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony] and said, ‘I need to tell you something’, and I was thinking, ‘Oh god, what have we done?’ She said when she was in school, she and her friends used to stencil the Judas Priest logo on their notebooks! Then Sheryl Crow came up to me and she said, ‘I love your voice, it’s amazing!’ All of these things solidify the fact that your music can reach and connect with people you’d never expect.”
INDUSTRY EVENTS CAN BE A FORCE FOR GOOD
“When I got the email saying Dolly [Parton] would like me to take part in Jolene, I thought it was a wind-up. But it did happen, and I’ll say this: everything you know about that woman… it comes from such a remarkable, pure place. That night was amazing. There was Pat Benatar, who I’ve known forever; Simon LeBon, who I’d never met but soon became joined at the hip with because he’s another yam-yam [a nickname for people from Rob’s home region, the Black Country]; me, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox and Pink all bowing to this incredible figurehead who we all adore. It was a surreal and moving experience. For all the people who hate the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, I’ll say this: it facilitates these moments of love in the music world.”
WHAT YOU DO TODAY MATTERS
“[2018’s] Firepower was as important for Priest as Painkiller, British Steel or Sad Wings Of Destiny. It put focus back on this band and introduced us to new generations, which you can never overlook because, without an audience, we’re not a band.”
STRIVE FOR ORIGINALITY
“I love making records, but when you’ve got all this stuff behind you – British Steel, Firepower, Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Painkiller… You’re trying to up it from all of that. But the songs [on our new record] are sounding fantastic and we’re looking at 2024 for the release. One of the toughest things I found was getting the lyrics done – it was a fucking nightmare! How many times can you say ‘fire’? Ha ha! As the scribe of Priest, I always try to avoid repeating myself and find new ways of saying things.”
HEAVY METAL IS IMMORTAL, ITS CREATORS ARE NOT
“Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about this. I’m 72 this year, and you realise quickly that 72 isn’t that far from 80, especially when so much of our world revolves around three-year cycles that come up around albums. So honestly, I’ve only got a couple of those cycles left. You really have to think about how you can cope with that reality – I’ve never been afraid of death, it doesn’t bother me in the least, but what I do have to find peace with is that being able to do the thing I love will come to an end, and that does make you want to live forever.”
