ROB HALFORD On His Early 1990s Exit From JUDAS PRIEST: 'I Was On A Bit Of A Journey'

TheUnTicket.com recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how his voice has held up after forty years of singing heavy metal music:

Halford: "You know, it's a blessing — thank the Lord. I still love to go out there and play, like all of us do in the band. We're forging ahead on a world tour that's taking us pretty much around the world. We're getting ready to take a little break after this upcoming leg in Europe to come back to the States and do another run. So the voice holds it together, you know. And much like sports, where you've gotta look after your body and take care of yourself, because of the physical aspect of what you do, that's where I find myself these days. It's hydrate, hydrate, hydrate…. That kind of thing. And get the rest and all the other important aspects of being a band that make you able to go out as a team night after night and thrill your fans, give everybody a great time, pack your bags, get on the bus and go and do it again in another place twenty-four hours later. So it's very similar to the incredible world of sports in that respect."

On his exit from JUDAS PRIEST in the early 1990s and eventual return to the band:

Halford: "I think I was on a bit of a journey, quite honestly. Musically, I've always been very curious and intrigued about other aspects of my own particular world in metal. And I enjoyed it. And I think what it did for me, maybe like it did for [basketball player] Lebron [James] when he went back to Cleveland from Miami. You go back to the home where you really feel you belong, you know, and that's how it turned out for me as a singer and as a musician. I had a good time, but I was yearning to go back to the band that I love more than anything else in the world. So it was a bit of a journey of self-discovery and trying to, kind of, put things in the right place, put things in the right perspective. Sometimes you have to leave the house for a little bit to realize how important it is to get back to your family. So that's how it turned out for me."

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.

Interview (audio):