IAN HILL Says JUDAS PRIEST Stays Relevant By Taking 'A Step Forward With Each Album'

In a recent interview with Charlie Kendall's Metalshop, JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill spoke about the multigenerational appeal of the band's music, with dads, moms and kids all attending PRIEST's concerts. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When you look out into an audience these days, it's not all old folks like myself. There's a hell of a lot of young faces, and they were probably dragged there initially screaming and yelling by their parents maybe, or their grandparents in some cases. But they're loving it, and they're singing along to the songs, and not just the new stuff — they're singing along to songs which are 40, 50 years of age. So they've obviously got an interest because they've delved into the back catalog and they've been listening to all this early stuff. And it's great news, not just for ourselves, of course, but for heavy metal in general. It's a very heartening thing to see, lots of young people enjoying themselves."

He continued: "We've always tried to take a step forward with each album. You just wanna get yourself better. We embrace new technologies and new gizmos and what have you; if it sounds good, we'll use it, [and] if not, it gets discarded. But when you're doing that, you stay current, and it keeps you relevant. And if you didn't know who we were and you listened to [PRIEST's last two albums] 'Invincible Shield' or 'Firepower', for instance, we could be any band — we could be any young up-and-coming band just trying to make it. And I think that's why we're attracting a lot of younger people, because of that — it's because of that relevance and because you can connect to them, and it is modern as opposed to… I mean, listen, some bands, they'll record the same album half a dozen times. People love them for it, and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever. But we've never done that. We've always tried to take that step forward, as far as we're concerned — step sideways sometimes. [Laughs]"

Almost a year ago, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford also spoke about the multigenerational appeal of the band's music, stating during "in conversation" event in London, United Kingdom: "There are some metal maniacs that have been with us from day one. And if that isn't love and passion and support, I don't know what is. What's equally exciting is, we're at this place now where you'll look out to all our fans and there's everybody from every kind of demographic. And that's just really something that you don't expect when you begin your work in this band. You don't expect personally to get this far. And then to see how far your music has reached.

"Each of us kind of owns this music," Halford added. "It's very, very personal. It means something very special and unique to each and every one of us. So there's that part of the story as well, but particularly when you see — you go on a stage anywhere in the world, and you see a young metal maniac early into their teens with somebody from my septuagenarian years, and they're banging their heads together and they're doing this [flashing devil's horns]. That's just remarkable. And I think that's pretty much exclusive to our world, to a degree. And that just makes part of this big picture and story of JUDAS PRIEST even more real."

JUDAS PRIEST played the final concert of its 2024 tour on December 13 at Ex Theater in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan.

PRIEST will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its classic album "Painkiller" extensively live with the "Shield Of Pain" tour in 2025. This "rare" and "unique set" will include "beloved classics" and "will be defending the metal faith in a truly memorable experience throughout Europe" this summer, according to a social media post from PRIEST.

PRIEST's 12th album, "Painkiller" was recorded at Miraval Studios in Brignoles, France, and was mixed at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, the Netherlands. It was the first LP to feature drummer Scott Travis following the departure of Dave Holland.

JUDAS PRIEST's latest album, "Invincible Shield", entered the U.K. chart at No. 2, just behind Ariana Grande's "Eternal Sunshine".

Prior to "Invincible Shield"'s arrival, PRIEST's highest U.K. chart achievement was with 1980's "British Steel", which reached No. 4.

PRIEST's 2018 album "Firepower" entered the chart at No. 5.

"Invincible Shield" was JUDAS PRIEST's fifth Top 10 album, after the aforementioned "British Steel" and "Firepower", as well as 2014's "Redeemer Of Souls" (No. 6) and the 1979 live album "Unleashed In The East" (No. 10).

"Invincible Shield" landed at No. 1 in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as No. 5 in France, No. 8 in Italy and No. 16 in Australia.