A conversation with Rob Halford of Judas Priest

They're calling it the Epitaph tour, and after nearly 40 years, their website says it's indeed their final world tour.

But according to Rob Halford, there with still be a beast that is Judas Priest in some form or other after it ends. After all, the band has a novel 17-track compilation album coming out Oct. 11 on Sony Music called The Chosen Few, featuring favorite Judas Priest tracks from 1977's Diamonds And Rust through 1990's Painkiller. But each cut was selected by Judas Priest friends and contemporaries including Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Slash, Motorhead's Lemmy, Steve Vai, Scorpions' Klaus Meine and Whitesnake's David Coverdale.

Meanwhile, the band has written most of its next studio album.

The extraordinary Judas Priest frontman, who lives in the U.S. and U.K., phoned in from Chile, where the pioneering British heavy metal band (also including veteran guitarist Glenn Tipton, founding bassist Ian Hill, new guitarist Richie Faulkner and drummer Scott Travis) is in the midst of the South America/Mexico leg of Epitaph Tour 2011. It's set to hit the New York City area on Nov. 18 with a concert at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

You've always been unusually press-friendly for a band of your stature and longevity.

We look at it this way: Technology has got to the point where everyone knows when you're going to the bathroom! But the great communicator for Judas Priest was always the rock 'n' roll magazines and newspapers around the world--and none of us in the band has forgotten that. We're old school: When I'm back home in the U.K. or the States, I have to get my two daily newspapers--and a real book! I'm not denying the importance of the Internet, but I want to have a real experience.

But more often than not, artists that have achieved your level of success are hard to reach for interviews, unless it's for the cover of Rolling Stone or 60 Minutes.

When you're in a successful rock 'n' roll band, you become something more than what you were. You have to make a balance and understand that the more successful you become, you still need that lifeline that the press provides. You can't shut that side away! It's absolutely vital to maintain that lifeline, and we can't do it without our friends in the media. [Lady] Gaga's got the whole thing down in terms of communication.

Was the band involved in The Chosen Few?

We weren't involved in the concept, but embraced the whole idea with our Sony family when it was presented to us. We thought, How cool for there to be a collection of our songs put together by our favorite friends in the music business! It's a fact that we're all listening to each other's kind of music: If you want to hear Slash [who chose "Screaming For Vengeance" on The Chosen Few] or [Slipknot's] Corey Taylor ["You've Got Another Thing Coming"], check their releases.

So you didn't have anything to do with it?

We kept an eye on things--how can you not get involved? [Laughter] As I understand it, we had an enormous amount of rock 'n' roll friends put in time on it, so there may be another Chosen Few in the future! We're just delighted to have our peers involved.

Were you surprised by any of their song choices?

Not really, because they're all purists. They love their Priest tracks for the same reasons that we do. But it's a very nice feeling to think that these extraordinary artists are enjoying particular songs.

Do you think they missed anything?

There will always be something missing, because I love every single thing Priest has done! [Laughter] That's 300-plus tracks! Obviously, I'm inclined to my own more personal ones for whatever reason, but this is a very good selection.

But it's missing "Heading Out To The Highway"!

So come see that for real! It's the third song into the show, after "Rapid Fire" and "Metal Gods."

Can you say anything about the new studio album?

Here's the deal: As you know, our last major release, Nostradamus [2008], was a concept album that we wanted to make forever and it was a tremendously satisfying experience that we could actually achieve something we wanted to do for such a long time. But once we achieved it [came] "What do we do next?" And to have done as much as Priest has over 40-odd years, we can go any way we want to go--like we've always done-- Painkiller [1990] one minute and Turbo [1986] the next.

So how did you plan the next album?

When Glenn and I sat down to think about it we instinctively went for songs from the heart--classic metal songs that I suppose make up the vast majority of the essence of Priest. All the fast stuff, mid-tempo…but how do you pin down music with words? It's very difficult: A little Painkiller vibe, British Steel [1980] vibe, Demoltion [2001] vibe. But it turned out so well and we've written most everything, and will be in full production by the end of the year. We're trying to get it out by the end of next year.

So why quit? Especially when you seem so "ahead"?

We were somewhere in Florida toward the end of the Nostradamus tour, and I suppose the discussion came about while the tour was winding up, What's next? [Laughter] It was probably not the time emotionally to make any decision! But we thought we'd wind things up a little bit, pull back and not say goodbye 100 percent, but put it into motion, speaking our minds from our hearts like we've always done. It's much more difficult to wake up one day and it's 100 percent ended but if you let it filter through again, that you're going to see Priest in the future but not on the same level as now, then it's not a punch-drunk type of thing but by pulling back a bit, doing festivals and coming to the States, we can still keep forging ahead.

So it's not the end?

It's not the end! I think we all know what "farewell" means in rock 'n' roll! [Laughter] I wish there was another word we could use: We certainly don't want to allude that you've got to catch the band now and buy a t-shirt and tickets! We've never been that type of band, but [we're] sincere and genuine like always--and won't be doing big tours again.

What kind of tours will you do, then?

We'll go to places that aren't so easy to get to as America. We'll continue on a much smaller level--but we definitely do want to maintain our profile with new songs and records. We're very excited to preserve the tradition in metal, and are always protective about it.

What about the tour now? How on earth have you managed to maintain your voice?

Funny you should ask! I was in David Coverdale's dressing room last night, and we're always sharing vocal tips. He's showing me this Italian "steam vocal machine" which looks like an expensive espresso machine from Italy! [Laughter] It's like a miniaturized humidifier and I was breathing all that down. But we're always swapping ideas: When I'm on stage I'm drinking Evian and boiling hot lemon and honey, and that's what gets me through a show. But then there's the dreaded air conditioning you have to put up with in hotel rooms, which dries out your voice. It's a muscle, and vocal chords can get tired, so I do very little speaking when I'm doing a show. It’s not like a guitar or drum, where you can change the strings or drumhead. You're at the mercy of the day's events.

So what comes next for you and Judas Priest?

I'll be going back and forth between the U.K. and U.S. It depends where Judas Priest takes us all. For the foreseeable future, the band will have a new Priest record out next year--and do a lot of work relating to it. We're working an incredible new guitar player into the mix: Richie makes a major contribution to the group, and beyond that, Glenn and I have other ideas musically that I can't talk about right now. But the foreseeable future--as far as our musical future--is very strong.

You've done solo albums in the past. What are your other plans outside of Priest?

I still have a bucket list. I've wanted to do a blues album, a real genuine blues album. When I first became a musician in my late teens, I started to hear the extraordinary roots of the blues--Bessie Smith, Little Walter, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters. They gave me the buzz. So I'll look at those opportunities with either covers or originals.

Finally, you courageously came out as a gay man in 1998. What are your feelings about the end this week of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that banned LGBT people from serving openly in the U.S. military?

I applaud it! It's a very intelligent and humanistic time for the American military--that's been a long time coming. Gays have been there since Day One: Think of all the men and women from the Second World War to Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, who served with the fear of being dismissed for their sexual orientation and did an incredible job. So it's absolutely fantastic--two thumbs up! Having said that, let's face it: The acceptance of everybody in the military has been going in the U.K. and Europe, and America is one of the few places left that's not on board. These people are protecting us and fighting for us, and can do that now without the fear of being thrown out. But we all bleed the same color blood! If someone's saving your life, are you going to say, "Before you save my life, are you gay or straight?"

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