Legendary Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford recently spoke with OC Weekly about the band's enduring catalogue and career. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

OC: When you started the band many years ago, did you ever in your wildest dreams imagine it would turn out to be this massive, important and influential?

Halford: "No, not at all. And that is the best way to approach this. It's great to have dreams and be ambitious, but it's not a guarantee to have a long career in rock n' roll. There is a risky part to what we do. But, it should always come from having passion in whatever type of music. When we began Priest, we never had any idea it would turn into the beast it became. You have to work hard, practice a ton and never give up. Good music always lasts. But, I'll tell you this much, we could not have done it without our fan base. They are all around the world now and they push us to keep going. We love them all."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

“Metal” Tim Henderson recently had a lengthy chat with legendary Judas Priest singer Rob Halford as part of of BraveWords’ ongoing 20th anniversary celebrations. During the retrospect chinwag, they talked about how the Metal God affected Canada’s longest running hard rock/heavy metal magazine, leaving the band after the Operation Rock N' Roll show in Toronto, his solo career including Fight, performing with Pantera, rejoining Judas Priest, Redeemer Of Souls and who HE is starstruck by! When asked him if he can remember the moment he embraced the Metal God name he responded as follows:

“Oh no, I can't do that! (laughs). Now, I go 'I am the fucking metal god!' (laughs). It's because I'm old and I've become entitled to say that about myself (laughs). But, honestly, I've never really looked at myself in the mirror and said 'Oh! You are the metal god!' (laughs). It might have come about from some of my friends in the press, or whether it was somebody in the band, or a producer - I don't really know. But, it went out into the world and it stuck. It's a wonderful title, well, not really a title, more of a moniker. Either way, I embrace it and it's something I don't take lightly. I actually have a lot of fun with it, and it's a wonderful compliment that's been bestowed upon me. So, yeah, I use it but I don't abuse it. In fact, if I'm on the stage and my voice isn't cooperating, I say to myself 'you are the fucking metal god!', and I get on with it (laughs). It's a very powerful and useful tool to have in my head.”

BraveWords’ entire conversation with The Metal God will be online soon!

(Photos by Mark Gromen)