In a new interview with Mariskal Rock, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford discussed Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and which band was more important to him while coming up in the music scene.

"They're all important to me for all of the styles and variety of music that they presented,” said Halford. "I was naturally drawn to Sabbath because of the heaviness. If you put Purple on and then you put Sabbath on, or Sabbath on then Purple, they're both really strong, powerful bands, depending on which album you're listening to. Purple is hard rock, for me it’s not metal, they might kill me for saying that, but I’m sorry. Sabbath is exclusively metal, although Tony always says in those conversations between musicians that Sabbath his not metal; I don’t know what’s going on, that’s the world we live in.”

Using the caption, "merry metal motivational", Halford, shared this new photo earlier this week, taken with guitarist Glenn Tipton, who stopped touring with the band in 2018, due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Earlier this month, Halford revealed that Tipton will contribute to the group's forthcoming, currently untitled, 19th studio album

"There's ways of doing this. Glenn can still play the guitar. He plays it differently, but he can still play," Halford told Spain's Mariskal Rock in an interview. "He walked out with us on Bloodstock recently [and played] 'Metal Gods', 'Breaking The Law' and 'Living After Midnight'. He can play. So he'll be on this next album. Whatever work he does, he's valuable – really important."

"He's a member of Judas Priest," Halford continued. "He's still there. He's still an important component of this band and what this band represents, particularly in the writing sense. He made a massive contribution to the songs that we have so far. And we'll still keep writing – we'll still keep putting together the ideas. Because you can never not stop writing."

"So, yeah, he's good, man," Halford added. "He's still a fighter. He never lets anything stop him. He's a great force for people that are living their lives actively and productively with Parkinson's. So he's still very much [like] that 'No Surrender' song – a heavy metal hero."

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(Photo - Mark Gromen)