ROB HALFORD Autobiography Sparks Publisher 'Bidding War'

Rob Halford says that a "bidding war" has broken out for his upcoming autobiography.

Earlier this year, the JUDAS PRIEST singer confirmed that he was finally working on a book, after having previously insisted he would never do so because of privacy concerns.

Speaking to Kirby Ray of the St. Louis radio station Real Rock 99.3, Halford stated about his autobiography: "I'm quite surprised, really, 'cause there's a bidding war going on for this book of mine. I think I've waited long enough, and that's kind of surprised me.

"I never take anything for granted," he continued. "I'm just so grateful that the fans have given me this great life in metal. All of us in PRIEST are grateful to our fans for giving us this great life in metal.

"But there's an enormous amount of interest, and particularly in my life as a metal singer," Halford noted. "I'm slowly but surely putting that together, and as it starts to become really real, which it looks like it is, we'll let everybody know."

Back in 2015, Halford was less enthusiastic about sharing personal details about his life in book form, telling Australia's Brisbane Times: "I know that my own life, my own experiences have something in them that people could learn from, that could really help somebody. And that it could be written in a way that needn't be exploitative or titillating. But I'm a private person, and I can say right now, it won't happen."

Halford said the same was true of JUDAS PRIEST, whose wild 1980s were chronicled in a "Behind The Music" episode but which has yet to released an official band autobiography. "We've talked about it and we're not interested," Rob told the Brisbane Times. "It seems the only way you can get these things to stick is to make it a tell-all, to dig up all the dirty laundry. We've never been to drawn to the tabloidy, gossipy side of things; we've never been desperate for attention, or gone around shooting our mouths off like other bands. We're more than happy — right now as much as ever — to be like Oz behind the curtain, to not pull that veil away, and to keep our fans directed to our albums and our shows."

In a 2014 interview Halford was asked how the guys in JUDAS PRIEST maintain their privacy in the age of the Internet and social media, when everything is out there now. "It's a very good question, and it's basically trust and respect for each," Halford replied. "I would never say anything about Glenn [Tipton, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist], even about the music to a certain respect. But as far as the dirty laundry that some bands are very, very open about displaying, the most important thing for PRIEST is the music. We really treasure it. And I'm only speaking for myself, but once you get beyond that and you get deeper, digging in the dirt, it can really dilute what you're about and what you're trying to be with your music. So we're very, very protective of that. We've also been fortunate in that we're surrounded by people outside of the band who are very protective of us as well."

He added: "You get these tell-all book from agents and managers that don't really know the truth: We've been lucky. We're constantly asked if we're going to do a book. Well, it seems the only way you can get a book to be successful is to dig up the dirt, and I don't want to do that, personally. I think it's also part of the magic and mystery of the band, isn't it?

"In today's world, everybody knows what everybody's doing. It's all in one ear and out the other and doesn't have any value. So for us, it's about keeping the privacy and the mystique. The band is called JUDAS PRIEST and this is our music."

In a separate interview with ABC News Radio, Halford — who has been openly gay for the past 20 years — repeated the sentiment, saying: "Time and time and time again, 'Can we have a book from JUDAS PRIEST?'...I don't think we'll ever do it. We've always pushed back. We know what people want — an exposure of the band," adding that that's not going to happen. "If you want to know about JUDAS PRIEST, put on that record from 1974 and listen to everything to 2014 — there's the life of JUDAS PRIEST," he said. "We don't feel as though we need to say anything more beyond the music."

Halford told ABC News Radio that he was more receptive to the idea of one day telling his own story in an autobiography. "That's...a personal journey and I think that I'd probably have less of a problem with that [than with a band tell-all] because it would be coming from my mouth," he said before adding he'd keep it personal. "I wouldn't say anything about Richie [Faulkner, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist], I wouldn't say anything about Glenn. I wouldn't bring anybody else into that part of my life because... it's not cool."

Halford went on to say that his story is "of its own life compared to what I am, I'm a singer in a heavy metal band. Oh, by the way, he's also gay. That's...simplistic, but I know it's a very deep story, it's a very interesting story."

Founding JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, who left the band in 2011, released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", last September via Da Capo Press.

JUDAS PRIEST will return to the United States this spring for a run with fellow classic heavy rockers URIAH HEEP. The 32-date trek will kick off on May 3 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida and wrap on June 29 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Photo credit: Mark Weiss