JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD Would Love To Star In A Musical

In a brand new interview with PureGrainAudio's Paltrocast, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked if there is anything he hasn't done that he still hopes to achieve before he retires from performing and recording. He responded (hear audio below): "I've got this blues album in me that needs to come out. I love the blues. I listen to blues nearly every day, and I've done that for a while, so I feel like my internal clock is heading towards the blues in some respects. I don't know what kind of blues record it would be, because the blues is very eclectic and varied, much like metal, to a certain extent. So there's that."

He continued: "I had a call many, many years ago from Elton John's people who wanted me to be in [the musical] 'Aida'. And I couldn't do it, because I was really, really busy. And I was just talking to a friend earlier about this guy's musical I'm gonna go and see, 'Wicked', which I can't wait to see, because I've read the books by a great author. So I think the stage, the musical, the showbiz, Broadway side of the stage is something that I'd like to kind of get my toe in the water for, regardless of how small it is.

"When I left school, I worked in the theater for a couple of years — I was about 15 or 16," he added. "And I stood on the side of the stage under the lighting guy. I went really quickly from working on the side of the stage to actually operating all the lights for all the shows. So I saw all the greats — the British greats — in all shapes and sizes, whether it was big operatic productions, whether it was variety/vaudeville. And I just love that element of the singing performance wrapped up in theater. So that's kind of still on my bucket list, which I hope to achieve at some point."

Halford first spoke of his desire to make a blues album in a 2014 interview with Noisey. He stated at the time: "I like to think I've still got the blues in my voice. I'd absolutely kill to do a blues record. I would kill to do that. It's something I want to do because I want to explore what my voice can do in that wonderful world. That's how I learned to do a lot of that soaring, sweeping, and screeching. And also I discovered that I've got a voice that can go in different octaves, directions, and different kinds of projections. It's a combination of a sense of adventure and just being inspired by those guys, those wonderful singers. It's a mixture of everything but mainly a discovery of what the voice can do."

In October, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2020. The top vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.

Current members Halford, Ian Hill (bass),Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums) would be inducted along with founding guitarist K.K. Downing, former drummer Les Binks and late drummer Dave Holland.