Legendary Judas Priest singer Rob Halford sat down with BraveWords recently to talk about their new album, Invincible Shield, and he graciously answered the BraveWords Rapid Fire questions, where we dig deep into the beautiful minds of our metal icons with a variety of fun and off-the-wall topics.    

BraveWords: What's your favourite song on British Steel?

Halford: "Ooh. Oh God. You say that, and all the songs are jumping around in my head. But in terms of the metal, I would say ‘Rapid Fire’, ironically enough. ‘Rapid Fire’. There's just something about that track that just gets the room jumping people start bang your heads and playing their air guitar. It's just a special track."

BraveWords: Who is your rock star, or your metal god?

Halford: "Oooh, I'm just going to jump right in and say Ronnie (James Dio). Because I've learned so much from Ronnie as a singer and as a performer."

BraveWords: Do you remember the moment when you looked in the mirror and you thought, "Music has to be my life. That's it."?

Halford: "I would say probably Sad Wings Of Destiny. The whole experience of Sad Wings Of Destiny was a commitment, from that record on. Rocka Rolla was kind of a, you know, going through the whole, experiencing making a professional record for the first time. But once we'd done that and we got into the Sad Wings Of Destiny world, that was it for me. I didn't want to do anything else."

BraveWords: Have you ever asked for an autograph?

Halford: "Umm, no."

BraveWords: Really?

Halford: "No. I don't think I've ever asked for an autograph. No. It just doesn't happen, so I have nothing to say – it's not that I'm not answering you, I'm thinking. No, I haven't asked anyone for an autograph."

BraveWords: Is it a shy thing, or some thing you just don't care about?

Halford: "Well, I have to be careful how I choose my words here. Although, I still value my privacy and personal time, and depending on where it is for an autograph, I'll sign autographs until the sun comes up at a show, or after a show, in a hotel lobby, or whatever. I think it's sort of a time and place, something like that. And some people are very adamant about that, not giving autographs, like Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney - they don't understand what that means. I do. I understand what that means, so that's probably part of what makes me not want to bother someone for their autograph. Not bother - that's the wrong word, but you know what I mean. Free space.” 

BraveWords: What was the last time you asked for a selfie?

Halford: "Oh, well it was going to be with Dolly (Parton). I remember when this was coming up, this Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame thing, and all I wanted was a selfie with Dolly. I never had a selfie with Dolly. I would've liked to, because  when I met that woman I was just in awe. I was just quaking in my heavy-metal boots, so I didn't have the audacity to say that – but I did get one with Simon Le Bon (Duran Durn singer) though."

BraveWords: Oh wow! That's huge!

Halford: "Simon, yeah. I said, 'Come on, Simon, selfie time', and he said, 'Yeah! Let's do it!', so there's a selfie of me and Simon Le Bon. Who knew? But this is the absolute, glorious, joy of music. One minute you're having a selfie with Simon Le Bon, and the next minute you're doing a duet with Dolly Parton. How mad is that?"

BraveWords: Given the vinyl revolution, which I still can't believe we're going through, do you remember your first vinyl record?

Halford: "I can't. I can't remember, no. When was the Beatles' White Album? What year was that?

BraveWords: Might have been when I was born. '67? (It’s actually November 22nd, 1968)

Halford: "OK, well I bought that, The White Album. And probably Help and Hard Days Night. I can't distinctively remember, but those are some of the albums that I bought. The Beatles and the Stones particularly where in my vinyl collection, yeah."

BraveWords: I know that you don't drink, but if you're sitting in a bar and there's an empty stool, who would you like to come up and sit beside you? Alive or dead.

Halford: "Oh, that's a great question. That's great. Can I have Ronnie on one side and Lemmy on the other? And they can set a camera up and listen to us talk."

BraveWords: That would be called a ‘Metal God Sandwich'.

Halford: "It would be, yeah. Heavy metal." 

Click below to watch the entire interview!