K.K. Downing Says Judas Priest Threatened Legal Action Over the K.K.’s Priest Name and That Rob Halford Approached Him About Starting a New Band

Rock Hard Greece has published a new video interview with K.K. Downing, and assuming you take Downing at his word at least, it’s a doozy.

For one thing, Downing says the remaining members of Judas Priest threatened him with legal action over the name of his new project, K.K.’s Priest:

“Their lawyers sent a letter to my record company making threats of legal action if I went forward with K.K.’s Priest. But for the moment, nothing happened. I think they made the threat but decided not to follow through with the threat. But they made the threat to try to stop me making the band.”

That seems surprising because a) gimme a fuckin’ break, they have to have known they had no case, and b) Judas Priest have no reason to feel threatened by K.K.’s Priest.

Still, it’s less surprising than this next claim from Downing:

“A couple of weeks after I walked out, Rob [Halford, Judas Priest singer] and his manager wrote me a letter. They wanted me to form a band with Rob and some other musicians. Jeff Loomis [Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore] was one. I can’t remember the names. But I’ve got the e-mail… I just ignored it.”

Wow. That’s… weird. I mean I’d be down for a band with Halford and Loomis and Downing, but, if this happened the way Downing describes it, it’s just strange.

I assume this is going to be the first thing Halford gets asked about in his next interview, so we’ll see if he can shed any additional light on the situation. Until then, you can watch the interview with Downing below.

K.K.’s Priest will release their debut album, Sermons of the Sinner, on August 20 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

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