Featured in the brand new issue of Classic Rock Magazine, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford revealed the closing track on the band's new Invincible Shield album, "Giants In The Sky", is a hymn to the music he has loved over the years, and the people who made it.

Halford: "Listening to music makes me think about all these beautiful people we’ve lost in rock’n’roll, from Janis Joplin to Ronnie James Dio to Lemmy. But also about the fact that music lives forever."

Asked for his favourite memory of both singers, Halford says: "Ronnie was an extraordinary man. He was very friendly, very affable, he liked to laugh; he didn’t put anyone down. But he was very serious about his music. When we did the Hear N’ Aid thing (the all-star heavy metal charity single released in 1986), all those people in that room looked up to Ronnie. Whatever he suggested, everybody listened. And I have fond memories of sitting on Lemmy‘s lap after he’d just come offstage, with his hair in a white towel turban. I’m giving him a hug, and he’s sweating all over the place."

"I felt a little bit intimidated in Ronnie’s presence and in Lemmy’s presence. Just because of the strength of their personality and their character. I felt I was a step back from them. They were giants, I was just an admirer."

Judas Priest will release their new album, Invincible Shield, in March. The band will also delight fans with a world tour this year, the UK leg kicks off in Glasgow on March 11 before taking on North America in April and May. 

This latest tour includes a night in Birmingham, on March 19 at the Resorts World Arena NEC, and has brought Rob Halford and his bandmates home for rehearsals ahead of the shows, reports Express & Star.

Even now, more than 50 years after the release of Judas Priest's debut album Rocka Rolla, Rob Halford is able to sit in his house in Walsall, which he splits time in alongside his home in Arizona, and say that he has enjoyed great fortune over his life and career and is always thankful for the continued love and support of the fans.

He said: "I think it's the same elements for anybody that's had the great fortune and luck and destiny and fate, whatever you call it in rock and roll. The heart of it is your music, the substance of your longevity is the quality of your music that you make, coupled with your fans - because you're nothing without your fans and we've just had this incredible hardcore following of fans all over the place that has kept us going so strongly.

"The relevance of Priest right now is as strong as it ever was as everybody around the world wants to see Judas Priest, and that's really remarkable half a century later and if you think about it too much, your head would go up in smoke.

"I just love it for all the simple true elements of maintaining this fantastic band called Judas Priest, all the compassion, passion, dedication and conviction which have gone into who we are and what we do and which are probably stronger today than they ever were before."

Read more at Express & Star.

Invincible Shield, out March 8 via Sony Music, can be pre-ordered here.

Tracklisting:

"Panic Attack"
"The Serpent And The King"
"Invincible Shield"
"Devil In Disguise"
"Crown Of Horns"
"As God Is My Witness"
"Trial By Fire"
"Escape From Reality"
"Sons Of Thunder"
"Giants In The Sky"

"The Serpent And The King" lyric video:

"Crown Of Horns" video:

"Panic Attack" video:

"Trial By Fire" video:

Invincible Shield album trailer:

See below for full North American tour routing and head to judaspriestinvincibleshield.com for tickets.

Tour dates:

April
18 - Wallingford, CT - Toyota Oakdale Theatre
9 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
21 - Reading, PA - Santander Arena
24 - Bangor, ME - Cross Insurance Center
25 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway
27 - Youngstown, OH - Covelli Center*
28 - Indianapolis, IN - Everwise Amphitheater at White River

May
1 - Rosemont, IL - Rosemont Theatre
2 - Minneapolis, MN - The Armory
4 - Kalamazoo, MI - Wings Event Center*
5 - Maryland Heights, MO - St Louis Music Park
7 - Huntsville, AL - VBC Propst Arena*
9 - Daytona, FL - Welcome to Rockville^
11 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
12 - Mobile, AL - Mobile Civic Center Arena*
14 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
16 - Columbus, OH - Historic Crew Stadium ^
17 - Evansville, IN - Ford Center*
19 - Washington, DC -The Theater at MGM National Harbor
21 - Albany, NY - MVP Arena
22 - Syracuse, NY - Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview

* Not a Live Nation Date
^ Festival Performance