Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford spoke to Louder Sound and revealed whether he listened to the band’s album released when Tim Owens was their frontman and explained the reason behind it.
After years of concentrating on the band, Halford decided to work on his solo projects while remaining a Judas Priest member, but a studio executive told him that it would end his time with the band. Therefore, the singer decided to leave in 1991 but remained until 1992. Later, according to Halford, the lack of communication between him and his bandmates caused this departure.
In 1996, the remaining Judas Priest members hired Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, who had gained fame as the singer of Winter’s Bane and a Judas Priest tribute band British Steel’s, to replace Rob Halford. The band released two studio albums, ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’ during his era, but Owens couldn’t stay for a long time.
The band decided to reunite with Halford in 2003, so its classic lineup has continued to perform and create together. During his recent interview, the iconic frontman answered a question about listening to the two records created in the Owens era, saying that he never listened to them because he tried to stay away from the band at that time.
In Halford’s words, he said:
“It’s cool to ask me this question, and I have an honest answer: I’ve never listened to ‘Jugulator,’ and I’ve never listened to ‘Demolition.’ Not that I’ve avoided listening to them; the fact is that I wasn’t in the band, Tim is a great singer and a good friend of mine, but I wasn’t drawn to Priest at that time of my life.”
Even though he was the one that replaced him, Rob Halford credited Tim Owens as a very talented singer and a good friend, so it is clear that he doesn’t have a problem with his predecessor. His decision to avoid the albums is about his relationship with the band.
