Judas Priest will not appear at the “Back to the Beginning” event – and here’s why

Judas Priest‘s absence from the final Black Sabbath performance later this year has been discussed by Rob Halford. In an exclusive interview with Metal Hammer, the revered Metal God reveals that he and his band have agreed to perform at the German hard rock veterans Scorpions‘ 60th anniversary event in Hannover on July 5. The event coincides with Sabbath‘s swansong, which is happening in Birmingham’s Villa Park almost 600 miles away. Priest will be one of the few veteran metal acts not on Sabbath‘s bill due to the clash; Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, and numerous other bands have already been confirmed. At the event, Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne will also perform his last solo gig.

I had no idea it was happening! We’ve known this guy Ossy Hoppe – he’s like god in Germany for metal. He came in to see me at one of our last shows and says, ‘Would you consider doing something really special and important? I’m putting on the Scorpions for their 60th anniversary, in their hometown. Would you work with the band?’ And I was just like, ‘Done! We’ve got no plans it’s all good.’ It all got announced and was a big deal – Scorpions and Priest – and suddenly I get this phone call [from Sharon Osbourne]: ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys, he’d love to see you.’ Rob Halford

Halford continues by saying that on the day of the show, Sharon even volunteered to fly Rob back to Birmingham so he could make a cameo.

My mind went to Phil Collins when he did Live Aid, where he got on the Concord from London to Philadelphia to play two gigs in two places. He was there before he left, thanks to the timezones! Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems… I was absolutely gutted Rob Halford

Although there are currently no Priest members scheduled to perform at Sabbath‘s event, Halford emphasises that K.K. Downing, the band’s founding guitarist who left in 2011, will attend and embody “the spirit of the band.”

All my mates are going to be there though, great bands and artists. It’s a wonderful and epic moment for Sabbath and heavy metal – it re-emphasises that Birmingham is where metal came from.