Rob Halford speaks about the past and future of Judas Priest

Singer Rob Halford discussed the band’s most recent album, 2024’s “Invincible Shield,” which was universally hailed as one of Priest’s best-ever works, with Chile’s Radio Futuro prior to the start of the band’s spring 2025 South American tour.

It’s extraordinary. There is no other band out there in metal that is making these kinds of statements. And we bring that type of philosophy with ourselves. We’re always thinking about the best way to represent Judas Priest at this particular moment in time because just recently we celebrated the 50th anniversary of ‘Rocka Rolla’, in 1975, and here we are decades later with ‘Invincible Shield’ and the metal treasure trail of music, all those albums. We’re always trying to make the best metal that we can make, and I think every band would say that, which is what you should say. But in terms of the songwriting and the performance and the attitude of the guys and the production, ‘Invincible Shield’ was probably as close to an important statement since ‘Painkiller’ that I can remember. A lot of people were wondering — when your favorite band makes an album, and then you have to wait two, three, four years for the next one, there’s always anticipation: ‘Please, God, don’t let the album suck,’ that kind of thought. ‘Don’t let your fans down.’ It can become a very complex type of overthinking type of place that you can put yourself. So you should be aware of who you are and what you’ve done and how you’ve got there, but at the same time, it’s making the metal now, making the metal in this metal moment. And I think where we were at making ‘Invincible Shield’ was a particularly strong display of relevance, that we’re not holding anything back, that we’re still pushing ahead and we’re still making really good metal albums.

Halford also discussed the absence of Glenn Tipton and Kenneth “K.K.” Downing, the band’s iconic guitar combination. Downing left Priest in 2011, and Tipton resigned from touring in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s illness.

A remarkable man. Parkinson’s is a cruel, cruel condition, particularly for musicians, particularly for guitar players who need to use their hands, because Parkinson’s takes away that skill. Thank God his beautiful lead breaks and his guitarmanship will live forever with the work that he’s done for Judas Priest, from ‘Rocka Rolla’ all the way through to the work that he did on ‘Invincible Shield’. The relationship with K.K.? You could ask that question to any band that’s had a number of changes going on. Again, I think that Ken’s role, Ken’s place in Priest is permanent, with his guitar skills and with his writing that he did with Glenn and myself. So, I wish him all the best. We always wish everybody that takes an adventure away to do other things. You can’t be angry about it. You can’t be bitter about it. That’s putting poison into your system. You’ve gotta let that go.

Halford didn’t forget about his current companions.

The fact that Richie came in when he did and is doing such extraordinary work now, making ‘Redeemer Of Souls’ and ‘Firepower’ and now ‘Invincible Shield’, alongside the bass God. Ian is playing as great and as strongly and as powerfully as he’s ever done backed with the rhythm section of Scott, who’s still pulling out great things on metal drum performances. It’s just a wonderful collection of really top-class metal musicians in Judas Priest. I’m still trying to do as best as I can with my voice. There are some things I can’t do anymore because I’ve been screaming my lungs out for over 50 years. But I still think that with the encouragement that I get and the support and love that I get from the band and primarily from the fans, I’m able to deliver the goods. So, yeah, it’s nice to be philosophical and talk like this about Priest. The summation of all of that is when you see us at work in a few weeks’ time on stage, you’ll see all of those things that I’ve just talked about at its best level. Bands talk all the time about their music, and it’s important to do that, but the actual proof of your ability takes place when you’re on stage. So that’s why we have to come back and show you guys the Priest is back and the Priest is still kicking ass.