K.K. DOWNING Hints At KK'S PRIEST Live Debut Of Two JUDAS PRIEST Classics During September/October 2026 North American Tour

KK'S PRIEST, which features former JUDAS PRIEST members K.K. Downing (guitar) and Tim "Ripper" Owens (vocals),alongside guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE),has hinted at the live debut of at least two JUDAS PRIEST classics during KK'S PRIEST's upcoming North American tour with W.A.S.P.

KK'S PRIEST will be the "very special guest" on W.A.S.P.'s "1984 To Headless" 2026 U.S. and Canada tour off, which is scheduled to kick off on September 10 in California and run through October 31.

Earlier today (Sunday, June 28),the KK'S PRIEST social media shared a short video of Downing and Mills playing the main riffs of the PRIEST songs "Heading Out To The Highway" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", neither of which had previously been performed by KK'S PRIEST, and it included the following message: "Wait... new additions to the set list?! In less than three months, we are Heading Out to The Highway on a massive US and Canada tour with W.A.S.P. and we can't wait! Over 40 shows featuring some JUDAS PRIEST classics we've never played live before, and of course KK'S PRIEST cuts! So stand by for what will be a night of EPIC METAL. See you there!!"

In a December 2024 interview with Australia's Metal Mal, Owens was asked if KK'S PRIEST is performing JUDAS PRIEST songs during its live shows that JUDAS PRIEST itself doesn't play or has never played before, Tim said: "Oh, we did do, yeah. We did 'Before The Dawn'. We do 'Before The Dawn', and PRIEST never played that, ever. Ken said he's 100 percent [sure] they never played it live ever.

"Yeah, we did some changes [to KK'S PRIEST's setlist]," Owens explained. "Earlier in the year, we did 'Beyond Realm Of Death' and 'Victim Of Changes', and this time we did 'Diamonds And Rust', the version that I did with the band, that version with the high notes at the end, 'Before The Dawn' and 'Sinner'. So we did it a little bit different.

"I would like to [play more songs PRIEST has never performed live]," Tim added. "The problem is we kind of split it half and half. The biggest complaint we actually get is that we don't do more [songs] of my era [of PRIEST]. We do one song, 'Burn In Hell'. So that's actually what we get the most, is how come we're not doing more of [the material I recorded with PRIEST]. But it's a hard thing. The problem is we're not an old, established band. We get together and we learn these songs. We have the screens that go to it in the background. You just can't change your setlist and learn new songs while you're on the road and doing it. Other bands can… But it's a good setlist we have."

KK'S PRIEST's sophomore album, "The Sinner Rides Again", came out in September 2023 via the Austrian label Napalm Records.

KK'S PRIEST made its live debut on July 6, 2023 at Downing's KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

K.K. formed KK'S PRIEST after JUDAS PRIEST turned down his offer to rejoin the band for their 50th-anniversary tour. It followed a couple of celebrated stage appearances, first with former MANOWAR guitarist Ross The Boss in the summer of 2019, then with a one-off lineup that included former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and former PRIEST drummer Les Binks later that year.

KK'S PRIEST released its debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", in October 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

Downing spent four months writing and recording "Sermons Of The Sinner" and, along with new ideas, he even resurrected a few archived riffs from the 1980s.

Downing was reunited with JUDAS PRIEST for a performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in November 2022 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

In 2019, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.