Rob Halford of Judas Priest Speaks Out About Rock Hall Honors
Judas Priest – Story by Anne Erickson, photo Travis Shin
Rob Halford says getting honored by the Rock Hall is “totally unexpected”
Judas Priest will, at long last, be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the class of 2022. The longstanding British heavy metal band isn’t getting inducted as a normal act, but instead, they’re accepting the Musical Excellence Award, the same award which was given to the late Randy Rhoads last year.
Even though Judas Priest aren’t become a member of the Rock Hall via the typical voting method, frontman Rob Halford is still very thankful. He says the induction is a “blessing.”
“It’s a very, very important institution for recognizing various people that have been in music since music began, right from the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll,” Halford said in a new interview with Billboard. “To be part of that is, like, wow. And glory hallelujah, there’s another metal band in now. That’s the blessing we’ve all been waiting for.”
Halford says he didn’t expect Judas Priest to get the Musical Excellence Award, so the honor came as a huge shock. After all, the Rock Hall hasn’t been known for honoring many heavy metal bands.
“That’s totally unexpected,” Halford said of getting the Musical Excellence Award. “That’s just a very extra thrill to have that. They really look at you beyond the simple band that you are. They really dig deep as to this album and that album this song and that song. I think that really supports what we’ve always tried to do.”
He added, “I think it validates the real musical adventure that Judas Priest has been on since Rocka Rolla. We’re a band that has taken you through man, many different, many dimensions, of metal. We’ve always called ourselves a classic metal band, but we’re a hard band to pin down. One minute we can be your Turbo Lover and then we can be your Painkiller, and how amazing it is for a band to really search for those opportunities within the genre of heavy metal. So I think the acknowledgement of Musical Excellence is a really sweet addition.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Nov. 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Other inductees for 2022 include Eminem, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran and Eurythmics, among others.
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