Rolling Stone’s interview series, King For A Day, features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and singers who had the difficult job of fronting major rock bands after the departure of an iconic vocalist. Some of them stayed in their bands for years, while others lasted just a few months. In the end, however, they all found out that replacement singers can themselves be replaced. The latest edition features former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. A few excerpts from the article...
Rolling Stone: How did you wind up in the Judas Priest tribute band British Steel?
Tim "Ripper" Owens: "I quit music for a bit. I had a kid. And then I joined a band called US Metal. They were like the local equivalent to Judas Priest. They had this good-looking singer that sang all this trendy music. Then I joined and we opened up with, like, 'Painkiller' and King Diamond songs. All the girlfriends were like, 'What the hell is this?' While I was in there, I joined a band called Winter’s Bane. We signed a deal with Massacre Records and we went to Germany to record it. This was 1993. Metal was dead. Nothing was going on. Some agent said, 'Why don’t you start a Judas Priest tribute band? They’re not together. The singer sounds like him. You can open up as Winter’s Bane and then you can get paid good money, as opposed to getting $50.' That’s what we did. We only did it for about a year. Winter’s Bane broke up. I had a whole new band. We weren’t very good. I wasn’t singing very good, and so I quit and joined a Seattle tribute band."
R.S.: How did you feel about the grunge bands that killed the metal bands off?
Owens: "In my opinion, I don’t think they killed the metal bands off. I think the metal bands killed off the metal bands. It went from these songs with some balls and substance to 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'. I’m not saying this is bad stuff. I’m saying metal became pretty and cliched and there were so many ballads out. I think that killed it. Pantera and Metallica kept going. But listen, Soundgarden was more heavy metal at the time than most of the metal bands. It’s just they wore flannel shirts and not flashy outfits. That’s what offended metal fans. 'You can’t do that. You can’t wear shorts and flannel shirts.' But when you listen to 'Outshined' and 'Jesus Christ Pose', the first Pearl Jam record, Alice in Chains, they were amazing. I liked it. I thought it was good. It was ballsier than some of the stuff coming out. I didn’t mind it. And when I joined Judas Priest, the metal scene was absolutely horrible. Listen, it was a good time to [join] Judas Priest, but it was a bad time for people to accept it, because people weren’t playing the same size venues. It was totally different."
R.S.: To go back a bit, how did Judas Priest hear about you?
Owens: "When I was in the Judas Priest tribute band, the next-to-last show we played was in Erie, Pennsylvania at a place called Sherlock’s. These girls came out that were fans of ours and they knew [Judas Priest drummer] Scott Travis as well. Actually, Scott jammed with us one day in Virginia Beach, where he lived, so he knew of me. And these girls videotaped that show and gave the tape to Scott. He took it to Priest and said, 'Check this out.' This was in 1996. I got the call that February. The thing is, we weren’t very good then. I sang well, obviously, that night, but the band wasn’t playing very good. We just kind of lost it. They didn’t learn the songs well that time. And so the band called me and said, 'Is that really you singing or are you miming? The music doesn’t sound right, but your voice sounds spot on.' I said, 'No, no. It’s really me.' It was really crazy. I just got a call."
R.S.: How did your life change after they announced you as the new singer? What was it like to get all that attention at once?
Owens: "It was crazy. At first it leaked out that I tried out for them. I’d go somewhere and my buddies would say, 'I heard you tried out for Judas Priest and didn’t make it.' It was a long time. I tried out in February and I don’t think they announced it until May. I had to keep quiet. But it was pretty cool since you’d be in line at a club or something and people would start talking to you. 'Did you make Judas Priest?' Again, it was different since there was no social media. The hype would have been way bigger if there was social media and stuff. You had to talk to someone to know about it. You couldn’t open up Facebook and go, 'Tim Owens did this…' I get recognized more now than any any time in my life. My kids used to say, 'Dad, you never get recognized.' And now it’s like, 'We can’t go anywhere.' What really kicked it into gear for me back then was the promotional trip for the album. Before I did that, I never realized how hard that was, and how long it was. Again, you couldn’t be doing Skype or anything like that. You’d be in a room and you’d be there for eight hours and they’d shuffle people in and out all day. I did that for two months. They’d bring in Glenn with me for a couple of weeks and K.K. and Ian for a couple of weeks. They’d shuffle them in and out, but I was there the whole time. It was two months of just non-stop. It was so hard."
R.S.: How did you hear about Rob’s return?
Owens: "I think I got a fax. I can’t remember. I don’t think it was an e-mail. It was 2003 or 2004. I got a fax that just said, 'You’re out of the band.'”
R.S.: Did you ever meet Rob?
Owens: "Yeah. We became friends. I met him when I was in Judas Priest. He was playing Blossom solo and was on the local radio station, 98.5. They said, 'Ripper lives around here.' He said, 'Ripper, if you’re out there, come to the show.' And so I did. We took a photo. We crossed paths when I was touring South America. I saw him again at a Dio benefit a few years back. He saw me and came over and talked to me. That’s the great thing about this. We might have said a few bad things about each other in the press over the years, but overall it’s been really good. I know that makes the press unhappy that we talk good about each other and have respect for each other. It’s Rob Halford. But it’s nice to know that he was following what I was doing. He said to me, 'I see you’re in Russia all the time. How’s Russia? How are the people?' I’m like,'Wow, you’re checking out what I’m doing?' That’s pretty cool."
R.S.: Why isn’t Jugulator on Spotify?
"I don’t know. It’s funny. I won’t make any money from it if they’re being sold on Amazon and Spotify. I wouldn’t make any money from sales. But the guys in the band would. I’m dumbfounded. They would sell. I don’t know if they realize that. They must not need any more money. It’s easier to find Demolition, but that was recorded on Atlantic in America and SPV in Europe. Jugulator was on CMC International. That was a new label that went under. But it’s strange to me. I know I’ve talked in the past about re-recording them, but I’m just so busy now. It’s the last thing I want to do. It is shocking though that they’ve kind of erased my time. At least Maiden plays Blaze Bayley stuff live."
Read the complete interview at RollingStone.com.
