Founding Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing quit the iconic metal band seven years ago, but he's looking back on his time with the British metal titans in his new autobiography Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest. 

As part of the promotional activities for the book, which is available now via Da Capo Press, Downing spoke with Bryan Reesman of Billboard; an excerpt follows:

By the end, Downing says he had grown weary of things. During the British Steel tour in 2010, the band had considered doing an EP, which they had never done before. Downing balked at the idea and was irked that during the last 12 months he was in the band, frontman Rob Halford had released two solo albums and opened for Ozzy Osbourne on tour. “We can't be playing second fiddle to somebody else's solo career,” notes Downing. “I wasn't doing it.”

He also disliked the quality of Priest shows by then. “The live performance got pretty rubbish really on the last tour [I did],” says Downing. “I would be zipping around the stage at the start of the tour, then I would start to feel awkward about doing it because everything slowed to a steady walk. Rob (Halford) was reliant on the autocue, and Glenn (Tipton) was having a beer between every song and before we went on.”

The guitarist never wanted to do a solo album. He always felt inspired to be part of a team and something bigger; in his case, Judas Priest. “I wasn't working to make myself bigger,” he asserts. “I was working to make the band big and that's what I thought we were all doing. And I think we did that. Then obviously then you get like every band -- Rob peels off, Glenn peels off, sells their own records, sells their own t-shirts on their own websites. And I'm thinking, For fuck's sake, the main event is gonna suffer some neglect.”

To read the complete interview, visit this location.

Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has uploaded a new video promoting his new autobiography, Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest, released earlier this week.

K.K. Downing's autobiography is out now via Da Capo Press. Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest is available to order here.

Both the front and back covers of the book can be viewed below.

A book synopsis states: Judas Priest formed in the industrial city of Birmingham,

England, in 1968. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest became the archetypal heavy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like “Breaking The Law”, “Living After Midnight”, and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band’s story until now.

As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In Heavy Duty guitarist K.K. Downing discusses frontman Rob Halford’s hidden sexuality, the personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band Iron Maiden, and how Judas Priest was at ground zero for the parental outrage targeting heavy metal in the ’80s. Lastly, he reveals the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2010 concert and thought, “This is the last show.” Whatever the topic, whoever’s involved, K.K. doesn’t hold back.

With the band at the beginning through his retirement in 2010 (and even still as a member of the band’s board of directors), Downing has seen it all and is now finally at a place in his life where he can also let it all go. Even if you’re a lifelong fan, if you think you know the full story of Judas Priest, well, you’ve got another thing coming.