Long Island’s Newsday caught up with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford and he talked about the prospects of a solo album.

"I still want to do that blues album," he says. "I've always felt that that's very much a part of my background and musical roots. I don't know what kind of blues album I could do because there are so many different facets [to explore]. Maybe I'll just mix it up. As far as stuff out of the metal world, I'm a fan of people like Michael Bublé and Michael Feinstein. I've always been a fan of Sinatra and Tony Bennett and Elvis. I'd love to hear what my voice would sound like in that kind of musical mix, with wind instruments, trumpets and sax, piano, just that big-band sound."

Judas Priest performed in Regina, Saskatchewan on Halloween night (October 31st), where frontman Rob Halford donned a Halloween costume for "Living After Midnight". Photos are courtesy of Halford's official Instagram page and Matt Hamann.

In a new interview with TorontoSun.com, Halford discusses everything from his bluesy ambitions to his grooming habits. An excerpt follows:

Q: After all these years, does the band still need to rehearse? Or do you just get up and play?

A: “Realistically, we could just get up onstage at the first show and have a knock, as we call it, for a few minutes. But we’re a very disciplined band. So we always go through the gruelling process of rehearsal. We loathe it, but we know how important it is. And in this instance, we’re changing up the set list a bit and putting some different songs in the set list for this leg, and that obviously calls for a full rehearsal.”

Q: Many of your peers like Tony Iommi and Lemmy and Bruce Dickinson have had health issues recently. You’ve had back surgery. How does that change your perspective?

A: “The determination kicks in even stronger when you’re faced with those challenges. I’ve seen ’em face to face. But like any difficulty with anybody in any walk of life, you just deal with it, don’t you? You just get on with it. And honestly, we only think about things like this when friends like you ask these questions; we never really go there with each other. We’re just a bunch of guys getting in the van and going to the next gig and playing. And they’ll have to drag me off that stage. Retirement isn’t in my vocabulary.”

Read more at TorontoSun.com.

Judas Priest's North American schedule is now as follows:

November
3 - Civic Center - Peoria, IL
5 - Paramount Theater - Huntington, NY
6 - Paramount Theater - Huntington, NY
7 - Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
10 - Scotiabank Center, Halifax, NS
12 - Air Canada Center - Toronto, ON

More details and ticket links at this location.