In a new interview with Birmingham Live, legendary Judas Priest singer Rob Halford talks about his new autobiography Confess and the struggles he endured coming out as a gay man. Having been born in 1951, Halford said he used to read the papers and note that people were being sent to prison for being gay.

"I still think that's a struggle for a lot of people, regardless of the times that we live in," he said. "Particularly for me as a young guy I was figuring things out. It was difficult. I read the papers like everybody else and it was about this gay man and that gay man being thrown into jail just because they were a gay guy. That's not the best terms to try to understand yourself as a person. Is that going to happen to me? There was a terrible oppression and persecution, as there still is in some parts of the world today. We have a long, long way to go before we get complete equality.”

Read more at Birmingham Live.

Rob Halford's warts and all autobiography, Confess, will be released on September 29 via Hachette Books. Amazon pre-orders are available now for North America and The UK.

A description of the book follows...

 Most priests take confessions. This one is giving his.

Rob Halford, front man of global iconic metal band Judas Priest, is a true 'Metal God'. Raised in Britain's hard-working heavy industrial heartland he and his music were forged in the Black Country. Confess, his full autobiography, is an unforgettable rock 'n' roll story - a journey from a Walsall council estate to musical fame via alcoholism, addiction, police cells, ill-starred sexual trysts and bleak personal tragedy, through to rehab, coming out, redemption... and finding love.

Now, he is telling his gospel truth.

Told with Halford's trademark self-deprecating, deadpan Black Country humour, Confess is the story of an extraordinary five decades in the music industry. It is also the tale of unlikely encounters with everybody from Superman to Andy Warhol, Madonna, Jack Nicholson and the Queen. More than anything else, it's a celebration of the fire and power of heavy metal.

Rob Halford has decided to Confess. Because it's good for the soul.