ROB HALFORD On Fronting BLACK SABBATH - "I Slowly Walk Out By Myself And The Crowd Starts Roaring And There's Nobody On-Stage"

Speaking to loudersound.com, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford was asked about his brief stint with Black Sabbath in 1992 and recalled a prank guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler played on him before a concert. 

"There’s another thing that mates do to each other as well – Tony and Geezer [Butler] are notorious pranksters," Halford reveals. "We’re getting ready to go on and they say ‘are you nervous Rob?’ and I’m like, you’ve got to be. So I’m there, with all my gear on, looking like Pinhead from Hellraiser and I walk down to the backstage with Tony and as we get to the curtain, I realise he’s vanished. So I’m there, calling his name, ‘Tony? Tony?’ and he’s disappeared. 

"I think ‘he must have gone out’, so I thought I’d better get out there too. I slowly walk out by myself and the crowd starts roaring, and I'm looking around, there's nobody on-stage. So I’m thinking ‘I’ve walked out, I can’t just walk back off’ and having this dilemma, then a few seconds later Tony and Geezer come walking out, falling about the place laughing. They’re always pulling stunts – you’ve really got to watch them. Afterwards, I asked ‘did you do that to me?’ and Geezer goes ‘you’ll never know…’ But what a brilliant show. If you look on YouTube, you can actually find a fan-shot performance. So there you go - flash forward a few decades I stood in for Ozzy again when his voice gave out. It’s a Brummy thing – we help each other out.”