While Rob Halford was speaking with Newsweek about Judas Priest's new Firepower album, the conversation turned to politics. Read an excerpt below:

Newsweek: Firepower is hitting at a time when the US is grappling with the rise of the “alt-right” and a growth of white power groups. Donald Trump’s policies have turned political divides into chasms and alienated minority groups like the LGBTQ community.

Rob Halford: "I'm not an American citizen, but I live in this country and eventually want to become an American citizen because I love this country so much. I'm not a Donald Trump supporter for a lot of reasons, but it's not only happening in America. It's happening in other parts of the world, as well, and it's very dangerous. I was born in 1951. We were still recovering from that evil bastard Adolf Hitler and the horrible things he did. When I was a kid, trying to make sense of the world, I would think, 'Well, maybe in about 10 years there will be no more of this.' And then it's still there. It's like what threatens the Force in Star Wars. It won't fucking go away. There's always a Darth Vader somewhere, fucking it up for the rest of us. Most of humanity just wants to live a peaceful life, don't we?"

Newsweek: What’s especially alarming about this moment we’re in?

"What's scary is how one person or a few people can have that much control and dictate such an outcome. It's your human right to push back against something you disagree with. You do that by voting for that guy instead of that guy, or that lady instead of that lady. If you're passive, that's when the trouble starts. Speaking as a gay man, when the horrible AIDS virus hit, one of the first big organizations to speak up was ACT UP. I had a T-shirt with the ACT UP slogan: Silence=Death. You can't be dismissive of important things. You have to speak out, even if you don't get the results you would like to have. It's a very shaky time right now. I have so much faith in this country. But it does seem as though the brakes have been slapped on. It’s indeed disturbing, and it's such a shame, because throughout the Obama administration, tremendous things were achieved on the basis of human equality. That's the issue here. Treating one bunch of people this way, and treating this bunch that way. You can't do that. You have to give everybody the same rights."

Read the full interview at Newsweek.com.

Judas Priest debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Firepower, marking the group’s highest charting album ever.

The album surpasses the group’s previous chart high, logged when 2014’s Redeemer Of Souls debuted and peaked at #6. In the UK, Firepower landed at #5, marking the band's highest ranking since British Steel in 1980.

Judas Priest's Firepower 2018 Tour features support from Saxon and Black Star Riders. Upcoming dates are listed below.

March
27 - London, ON - Budweiser Gardens
28 - Oshawa, ON - Tribute Communities Centre
30 - Orillia, ON - Casino Rama
31 - Detroit, MI - Detroit Masonic Temple

April
3 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
5 - Green Bay, WI - Resch Center
8 - Bloomington, IL - Grossinger Motors Arena
10 - Casper, WY - Casper Events Center
11 - Loveland, CO - Budweiser Events Center
15 - Kent, WA - ShoWare Center
17 - Portland, OR - Veterans Memorial Coliseum
19 - San Francisco - The Warfield
22 - Los Angeles, CA - Microsoft Theater
24 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre
26 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
28 - Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory
29 - Sugarland, TX - Smart Financial Centre

May
1 - San Antonio, TX - Freeman Coliseum