ROB HALFORD: We Refute Any Accusation That Music Can Have The Power To Take Someone's Life

RockBand.com recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST vocalist Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton about the band's new album, "Nostradamus". You can download the chat in two parts: Part#1, Part#2.

In a recent interview with the Edmondton Sun, Halford stated about the inspiration behind the new album — which is based on the life and times of controversial 16th-century prophet Nostradamus — "There were similarities to what we've gone through, and probably still go through to some extent in today's metal world. It's that perception of a society that doesn't understand something, or fights it or rejects it. He was going through similar emotional conditions, and we found the correlation of those incidents were kind of strange, to think that he was going through that himself 500 years ago, much like some of the bands have been going through recently in the metal world."

On whether he fully buys into the Nostradamus hype:

"All of us in the band have different feelings about it. Like, if you believe in Nostradamus, do you also believe in UFOs? Are you a ghost hunter? In the end, it's all of these parts of his life that we don't understand — and probably never will — that make him a fascinating character to talk about. And whatever the facts are, the man is still being talked about 500 years later. That in itself was enough to get us involved."

On being named in a 1990 civil suit launched by the parents of two adult fans in Nevada who attempted suicide by shotgun in 1985 (the men's parents tried blaming the deaths on subliminal messages found in a PRIEST tune):

"We flatly refute any accusation or allegations that music of any thought or style can have the power to take someone's life. At the end of the day, that's the individual's choice, and if you're messed up on booze or drugs — or you have some kind of mental instability — that's got to be addressed. But music in and of itself can't kill you and never will."