Known by his fans as the Metal God – a name he has apparently trademarked – Rob Halford, lead singer of Judas Priest, has had an impact on music unlike many others. He is a rock star in every sense of the word (despite soon turning 70) and, after 50 years fronting one of the biggest metal bands the world over, he has finally penned his memoir, Confess.
We chat by phone from his home in Phoenix, Arizona and he starts by telling me he is “ready to confess”, in an accent still thick from a childhood in Walsall, a slight surprise when one considers the leather-clad, studded look for which he is so famous. However, he is as honest in person as he is in his book.
Chatting about everything from to his early years in Judas Priest to wild touring days, hiding his sexuality for years before coming out on MTV and the suicide of his lover, through to entering rehab and getting clean, handcuffing himself to Andy Warhol and meeting the Queen: it’s all in there. Raw and searingly moving, Confess will delight metal heads and music fans alike with its emotional insight into the world of Rob Halford, as well as some hair-raising tales of one of heavy metal’s biggest hitters.
On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you right now?
Rob Halford: I’m going to go Spinal Tap on you and say I’m an eleven.
But seriously, when have you been your happiest in life?
I have aways been eternally optimistic, so I’d say I’ve always been happy. Apart from during those really rough times everything in my life has been very cool. I count my blessings for that. Apart from the gloomy, dark times in my life, I count myself very lucky and pretty happy – it’s part of my personality and character.
Would you consider the time you got sober to be closest you ever got to a zero?
Yeah, absolutely. Unless you go into minus figures – unless you’ll let me rate myself at a minus ten – you can’t get any lower than that. To stay sober, that’s something you have to be prepared to learn and accept.
You’ve been sober for more than 34 years, which is amazing. You write in Confess about how much less angry you are a result of not drinking and taking drugs any more. How else has it changed you?
I have a clarity now on everything, especially when it comes to my work. I’m able to perceive my music more clearly, with a lot less clutter and that's important as a musician, particularly for me, particularly because I love what I do and I love Judas Priest so much. I like to feel that being clean and sober has made me able to do my work much more efficiently; I look back on some of my lyrics and they are a touchstone. If you look at the lyrics on Nostradamus, they are some of the best I’ve ever written. I’m proudest of that and I doubt very much I’d have achieved those if I had a joint in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.
You write about performing live while sober for the first time and you really bring your anxiety to life…
My friend Nita [Strauss] who plays guitar for Alice [Cooper] just passed her fifth sober birthday and did an Instagram post saying exactly the same thing. When she first played live without a drink under her belt it changed her and she was able to fully understand the concept of the power of music and that was exactly the same for me. There is just nothing like it.
How did you handle lockdown?
Much better for not drinking! It’s been a terrible strain for everyone on all levels and that’s why I keep suggesting our fans keep in touch with each other. Music is vital for times like this because it helps us get through crazy things like this; it’s always helped us get through the bleak times. For me, this would generally be down time anyway with a little bit of writing and recording for Priest, so in some ways my life hasn’t been that different, but I know it’s terrible out there for a lot of people.
And you’ll tour again when you can, right?
God, everyone I know – all the bands around the world we’re in touch with – none of us can wait to get out there. We’re all anxious, so anxious to get out again. There is all this stuff about putting people in pens for some Virgin festival. It’s not the same though, is it? Can you imagine Glastonbury or Bloodstock like that, with everyone in little black plastic pens? You’ve got to be scrunched up against each other with the fans going crazy for the music. That’s the only way to do it. We’re all praying for a vaccine.
How do you feel about turning 70 next year?
It’s just a number, isn’t it? I read some stories the other day about people who haven't really moved on in life and they’re in their nineties. Their bodies are getting old, but they still feel like little kids. It’s a beautiful thing, but it’s how you feel. It’s definitely how I feel. I’m a young metalhead until I get up in the morning and my knees don’t work very well!
Will you rock until the very end?
Yeah. I think that’s common in the music industry, isn’t it? We all love what we do so much that knocking it on the head just isn’t on the cards. I saw what Brian May did the other day for Freddie [Mercury], who would have just been turning 74. If Freddie had still been with us, and I like to think he would, he’d be an inspiration. And look at Mick [Jagger] and the guys – they still tour and I like to think Judas Priest can do the same. We have amazing people around us and we’ve an amazing relationship. It’s 50 years we've been together now and when you see it written in front of you and look at those numbers, it really hits you. It’s just incredible.
Has it gone very quickly for you?
Yeah. It was amazing writing it all for my book, covering the 1950s one day and the 1990s the next. We all have significant memories, like our first day at school or the first love of our lives, whatever that experience might be like for you, or that first drink. Bringing it out in Confess was amazing. Emotional sometimes, but amazing.
How do you switch off when not touring?
I love my movies and my Netflix, but don’t get me on my Amazon Prime at three in the morning when I can’t sleep! My other half, Thomas, will ask me, “What is that at the gate?” And I usually haven’t a clue because I just ordered something late at night. It’s almost like an addiction, to be quite frank. And if you’ve got addictions, which most musicians do, you need a fix somehow and my addiction these days is definitely Amazon Prime. I also love reading and, when I’m away from my real home in Walsall, I’ve the joy of being in Arizona, which is beautiful. I’ve got my trail to walk – it’s like chalk and cheese compared to England. But it’s wonderful and I’m outdoors a lot when I’m here. As a 69-year-old metalhead I have to do my best to stay in physical shape because touring is tough. It doesn’t matter if you have a private jet and a limo – you have to get out on stage and give it your best and it’s exhausting – so you have to make sure all the elements are in place to make it happen.
You and Thomas have been together a long time now. What is the secret to a long and happy relationship?
Thomas and I have been together about 1,000 years, but here’s a simple equation. He does the cooking and I do the dishes. It’s as simple as that. And you can take that through to every other level in your relationship. It has to be 50-50. If it’s 75-25 it’s wonky and you have to be perfectly balanced. You have to constantly work at it and that can be hard, but otherwise things can dry up and go stale.
Does anything frighten you these days?
Not really, no. I see and read unsettling things going on in the world and they don’t affect me directly, though they affect me as a human being, whether it’s politics or climate change, but that’s not real fear is it? There is the famous expression, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. And fear is a self-imposed emotion; you should try to not be afraid of anything. I try to just get through life.
Do you ever miss the wild old days? Was there a sense of nostalgia for the craziness when you were writing Confess?
Absolutely. I was watching something with Thomas recently and saying that I just loved those drinking and drugging times. I loved them. Even though the end game was total self-destruction, at the time, yeah, it was great. In your youth that’s what you do, isn’t it? You have a weird party and do crazy stuff and it’s a rite of passage. I have fond memories of those times, even though it got pretty dangerous for me and I don’t look back at it all and have regrets. I have never had regrets. I think you learn from your mistakes, but I don’t regret anything. It’s gone, so utilise it, if it’s of any use to you, and move on.
You write very openly and very movingly about being gay and fronting a world famous heavy metal band as the Metal God. What would be your advice for those struggling with their sexuality today?
I would say try to find the strength to set yourself free out of your own prison. You put yourself in prison and you allow others to put you there. If you’re talking about fear, people fear telling Mum and Dad and work mates and school mates and it’s true to say that in certain parts of the world and even in my own country there is still bullying of gay people and it’s abhorrent. I’ve never understood that, but it won’t go away, just like racism. But if you can find that peace and balance in your own sexuality then you must. I read about a British bloke who came out recently in his nineties and it’s brilliant. It took him a long time but at least he did it. Who wants to go to their death bed with that? Living your life on your terms is the most important thing. There is nothing else.
Apart from the odd troll it sounds like you had a lot of support when you did come out.
Absolutely. I mean, in the band, it was common knowledge I was a gay guy, but it’s a label we stick on each other and your sexuality doesn’t affect who you are as a musician. I always say, tongue in cheek, that a straight person can’t do what I do! I mean, look at Freddie Mercury. I always say we wouldn’t have had the Freddie we loved if he’d been straight. There are parts of our make up that are vital, that I think are linked very much to our sexuality.
Are you optimistic for the future?
We aways have to go forwards. We aren’t going backwards and you can’t look in that direction. I was talking to my sister Sue the other day about stats in the UK, especially for families who have lost their loved ones to Covid-19 and it’s heartbreaking, but there is aways light at the end of the tunnel and I know that expression is used a million times, but it’s true. We always get through it one way or the other. It’s a British thing, that mantra to stick together, but internally we all know there is an end to everything, including this horrible pandemic.
You write about your amazing connection with Lady Gaga. Who else do you admire in the music industry?
Greta Van Fleet are good. And there is an artist called Yungblud. I’ve been following his career for the past few years and check out his Instagram and it’s great what comes out of the UK in all forms. But, as far as the whole scene is concerned, it’s thrilling and makes you feel good that there is always an ongoing display of great talent out there.
If you had to pick one person who has had the most influence on you, who would it be and why?
John Lennon. I’ve always been a big Beatles fan and always will be and I just feel that what he was offering about striving for world peace was an incredibly moving and powerful thing to do. He was an ambassador for world peace. He wasn’t Gandhi – he had a different take on it – but, as far as what he was trying to achieve, and add to that the incredible music he wrote with Paul McCartney, for me, musically and personally, in the way he conducted himself and the way he had that incredible indestructible self belief, he is a big one. He always had this great gift, this great oratory gift to engage people and explain his feelings. I’m sure he’d still be doing great music and making a difference today if he’d been able to.
You write about the time you handcuffed yourself to Andy Warhol, which is amazing. Are you used to this stuff now or did you write your book and think, “I can’t believe this is my life?”
The great thing about this book is I can finally convince myself this stuff actually happened. You see pictures and, sometimes, it doesn’t feel real but it is amazing to know this stuff happened. I’m thrilled it happened – what a memory – I mean, who else handcuffed themselves to Warhol? The Metal God did, but nobody else. And meeting the Queen while hanging out with Cilla Black. That was magic. I’m not bigging myself up, but if there was ever a movie of my book I’d love to see that scene played out.
Who would play you?
Oh, I don’t know. I’d like it to be a Brit. If there was a young Gary Oldman that would be good, but then with CGI you can do anything now, can’t you? He was mind-blowing as Winston Churchill and he’s just a national treasure, isn’t he? He could do the job I’m sure! All this wishful thinking is fun.
What do you most like about yourself?
My eternal optimism.
And what do you most dislike about yourself?
I can be a procrastinator. I don’t like that in myself. Sometimes I wonder if I am procrastinating or just being super-analytical of things. I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
What is your greatest achievement?
I’m still doing it. The fact that I’ve been able to sing for this incredible British heavy metal band for 50 years is amazing, but I’m still here, screaming my tits off and that’s really saying something.
Confess: The Autobiography by Rob Halford (Headline) is out on 29 September.
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