JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD: 'Free Ukraine!'

June 17, 2022

JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford publicly voiced his support for Ukraine in its war with Russia during the band's concert in Poland earlier in the month.

While performing the song "Blood Red Skies" at the Mystic Festival in Gdańsk on June 3, the 70-year-old British-born singer said into the mic "never surrender" and repeated the phrase "Free Ukraine!" three times, as can be seen in the fan-filmed video below.

A little over two years ago, Halford was asked by one of the readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine if politics have a place in metal. He responded: "Absolutely they do and I've been putting my two penn'orth into PRIEST's music for most of my life, but it's concealed by smoke and mirrors. Take a song like 'Evil Never Dies' [from 2018's 'Firepower' album]. I make some digs there and I know what I mean, but here's the thing, especially for a band like PRIEST: music is about escapism.

"If I hear one more thing about Brexit, I don't know what I will do. To me there's a place for politics and I applaud bands that make it important in what they do, but with me the clues are there if you want to look for them."

Back in 2018, Halford told Newsweek that he was "not a Donald Trump supporter," explaining that the then-U.S. president's policies had turned political divides into chasms and alienated minority groups like the LGBTQ community.

"It's a very shaky time right now," Rob said. "I have so much faith in this country. But it does seem as though the brakes have been slapped on. It's indeed disturbing, and it's such a shame, because throughout the Obama administration, tremendous things were achieved on the basis of human equality. That's the issue here. Treating one bunch of people this way, and treating this bunch that way. You can't do that. You have to give everybody the same rights."

Halford acknowledged that many PRIEST fans won't agree with those views, saying that "there's a ton of metalheads that are supportive of [the Trump] administration." But, he added, "That's great. That's okay. You're not bringing that to the show. We're there to all join together, and that is the beautiful thing about a free, transparent society — which we don't appear to have right now. Some fans are completely opposite to me politically. But we can still be in the same room and have a good time and hopefully have a good discussion while respecting each other's opinions."

JUDAS PRIEST kicked off its spring/summer 2022 European tour with an intimate concert on May 31 in Berlin, Germany. For the gig, which was held at the 1,600-capacity Huxleys Neue Welt venue, Halford and his bandmates ditched their traditional leather-and-studs look in favor of a more stripped-down appearance.

JUDAS PRIEST will receive the Musical Excellence Award at this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, which will honor Eminem, Dolly Parton, DURAN DURAN, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, EURYTHMICS and Carly Simon in the Performers category.

The induction ceremony will be held on November 5, 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. There will also be a radio simulcast on SiriusXM's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Radio channel 310.

According to the Hall Of Fame, the JUDAS PRIEST members that will get inducted include current members Halford, bassist Ian Hill, guitarist Glenn Tipton and drummer Scott Travis, along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar),Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.

Find more on Judas priest
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).