Halford Admits Four-Piece Judas Priest Was His Idea: “That Blew Up In My Face, Didn’t It?”
Last month, heavy metal heroes and Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame nominees Judas Priest announced that they’d tour as a quartet while guitarist Andy Sneap focused on his production work. Then fans got all pissy because single-guitar Judas Priest is kind of a bad idea, and Sneap himself revealed he didn’t really want to leave, so Priest doubled back and decided to tour as a quintet again. Now, in a new interview, frontman Rob Halford has revealed that the idea was solely his — and gracefully admits it wasn’t the best one.
Speaking to Billboard, Halford was asked about the choice to tour without Sneap, and the dude got in front of it:
“That all came from me, it didn’t come from the band. Of course, that blew up in my face, didn’t it? To have done something like a four-piece now would’ve been just not right, ridiculous, insane, crazy, off my rocker, have a cup of tea and relax. It’s kind of water under the bridge now. I think my heart was in the right place, but I’m not the first musician to have a crazy idea.”
Good on the Metal God for admitting that even Metal Gods make mistakes.
Catch Judas Priest with Queensryche at one of their currently-scheduled reunion dates below:
Mar. 04 – Peoria Civic Theatre – Peoria, IL [tickets]
Mar. 06 – Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO [tickets]
Mar. 07 – Maverik Center – West Valley City, UT [tickets]
Mar. 09 – Angel Of The Winds Arena – Everett, WA [tickets]
Mar. 10 – Moda Center – Portland, OR [tickets]
Mar. 12 – Fox Theater – Oakland – Oakland, CA [tickets]
Mar. 13 – Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, NV [tickets]
Mar. 15 – The Shrine – Los Angeles, CA [tickets]
Mar. 16 – Arizona Federal Theatre – Phoenix, AZ [tickets]
Mar. 18 – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – Irving, TX [tickets]
Mar. 20 – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park – Cedar Park, TX [tickets]
Mar. 21 – Freeman Coliseum – San Antonio, TX [tickets]
Mar. 23 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium – Nashville, TN [tickets]
Mar. 25 – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, GA [tickets]
Mar. 27 – Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center – Charleston, WV [tickets]
Mar. 29 – The Met Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA [tickets]
Mar. 30 – Prudential Center – Newark, NJ [tickets]
Mar. 31 – The Theater at MGM National Harbor – National Harbor, MD [tickets]
Apr. 02 – Foxwoods Resort Casino – Mashantucket, CT [tickets]
Apr. 04 – Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell – Lowell, MA [tickets]
Apr. 07 – Scotiabank Centre – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada [tickets]
Apr. 10 – Videotron Center – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada [tickets]
Apr. 11 – Place Bell – Laval, Quebec, Canada [tickets]
Apr. 13 – FirstOntario Centre – Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [tickets]
