JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD Doesn't Rule Out More Solo Albums In The Future

Although JUDAS PRIEST is his primary focus for the foreseeable future, vocalist Rob Halford hasn't ruled out making more solo albums when time permits.

Rob's last CD with the HALFORD band, "Halford IV - Made Of Metal", came out in September 2010 and was the follow-up to 2009's "Halford III - Winter Songs", which was the singer's first solo release in more than seven years.

Asked by Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon of the "One On One With Mitch Lafon" podcast (Facebook page) if he plans to revisit his solo career at some point down the line, Halford said: "I'm still curious about other things that can be made in music; that's just my nature as a musician. I think that if you have a sense of what could happen if you hooked up with this person or that person, then why stop yourself? Having said that, as I've always said, PRIEST is the love of my life in metal, and I get a lot of things that I want as a metal musician from this band, and I think you can hear that roaring from [the new JUDAS PRIEST album] 'Redeemer Of Souls'. But I'm interested, you know. And, as I've always said again, PRIEST comes first for me. And when time allows, as I'm sure it will in the not-too-distant future, I'll see what else I can do in the solo world."

After the release of JUDAS PRIEST's 1990 album "Painkiller", Halford wanted to do a solo record, but the rest of the group wouldn't let him. So he left the band and did it anyway, while his bandmates continued without him. PRIEST recruited vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens in 1996 and released two studio albums, 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition", before reuniting with Rob in 2003.

Speaking about his time away from PRIEST, Halford told Lafon: "PRIEST was going through an extraordinary time in the early '90s. The band had been working literally non-stop from those very first releases. And you could suggest that, yeah, if we could have all taken a hiatus of sorts, things might have turned out differently. But hey, that's life, you know?"

He continued: "Life isn't a smooth journey. I've never wanted a smooth journey in life; I just wanted all the craziness that comes with it. And so I look back at that time, and it was extreme, it was a bit dangerous. But again, I think something good came out of it, from my perspective. PRIEST forged ahead with my good friend Tim 'Ripper' Owens; he was holding the mic and doing a fantastic job."

He added: "Hey, I'm not the first guy that's stepped out a band and done something of that nature. It was fulfilling. But I'll tell you, what it did kind of bring home to me was just how much I valued and how much I needed JUDAS PRIEST in my life. I missed all my bandmates, I just missed all that really tight type of experience that you have with each other when you're in a band, especially a band of the nature of JUDAS PRIEST. So I kind of went for a walk and did my stuff and then was eager to find a way to come back, and, of course, it's been suggested that the [HALFORD's 2000] 'Resurrection' album was the bridge back to the world of PRIEST. So when that opportunity arose and we were able to reform at that particular time, it was a tremendous feeling from everybody, from everybody in the band at the time, and, of course, most importantly, the fans who have stood with us — old PRIEST fans, new PRIEST fans; they've all been with us every step of the way supporting us. So it was just a fantastic feeling to be regrouped again."