ROB HALFORD On His Encounters With Unidentified Flying Objects

Skylaire Alfvegren of the LA Weekly recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

L.A. Weekly: Rob, how are you?

Rob Halford: I'm fine. Did you survive the earthquake?

L.A. Weekly: I was in Northern California at a UFO convention.

Rob Halford: Oh, for the band?

L.A. Weekly: No, not the band.

Rob Halford: The things in the sky?

L.A. Weekly: The things in the sky.

Rob Halford: Well, I've got some stories to tell you. I've had one or two encounters in England, not close encounters, but things that have totally freaked me out. It absolutely fascinates me. I think maybe just because it's an artistic thing. People that are in tune with their emotions and creativity, I think that a lot of us are prone to that almost sixth-sense phenomenon. Having said that, people from all walks of life see those things in the sky, you know. But I think it's something very bizarre and it's been with humanity forever.

L.A. Weekly: You guys just toured Europe, and now you're headed across North America.

Rob Halford: We're roaring away on the American leg of the world tour. I'm in Kansas City about to get my head together and go and have a sound check for the big show we've got here tonight. We've got a couple of shows on our own before we commence the Metal Masters tour, which will be [full of] legendary moments, and which we're all very, very excited about. I'm like a fan, I just get all excited myself. I can't sleep!

L.A. Weekly: If I were in your position, I'd most want to arm-wrestle Ronnie James Dio.

Rob Halford: I'm obviously a huge fan of everything that Ronnie's done with SABBATH and with Dio and elsewhere, and Lemmy is — I call him Lord Lemmy. Lemmy has just got this character, he's just so strong with his presence onstage, and he's a fantastic bass player and songwriter. MOTÖRHEAD are legendary in their own right. TESTAMENT's been around since 1980-something. I think it's great that we've got this bunch of metal minstrels. I said minstrels because I'm slogging my way through a 700-page book by Kate Mosse called "Labyrinth". [Which fictionalizes the Fourth Crusade, proclaimed against the Cathars, during which the nobility doubled the size of their country.] It's set in 12th-century France. In 11th- and 12th-century France, you know, bands were famous. The courts and courtiers, the nobility, they would book these bands to come and play at their feasts and weddings, and here we're doin' it in 2008!

Read the entire interview at www.laweekly.com.