Will JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD Ever Write His Autobiography? 'I Think It's Inevitable,' He Says

Finland's Kaaos TV recently conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST vocalist Rob Halford. You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he has ever thought of writing an autobiography:

Rob: "The thought of an autobiography, that's been rattling around for 10 or more. Publishers have been approaching me for as long as I can remember. And I think the longer you live, the more stories you've got to tell. I've had a wonderful life, and I think if I did a book, I'd like it to be a bit different. I don't know how that might be. I've got so many memories that I think it would probably be more than one book. [Laughs] I think it would be a bit like 'Lord Of The Rings' — it would be a trilogy or something. [Laughs] … So I think it's inevitable that you'll get one from The Metal God."

On how JUDAS PRIEST will handle the guitarist situation after the completion of the "Firepower" tour, which features producer Andy Sneap filling in for Glenn Tipton:

Rob: "[Andy's] coming out with us all the way through… I think, at the moment, the 'Firepower' tour, I believe it ends at the end of June. I think it's in Las Vegas, the final show — unless something else comes along… We're keeping a very open mind on this whole thing, because Andy, first and foremost, is a wonderful metal producer. I'm sure you know everything that he's done. And that's his world. He loves to play, and he loves to be in the studio. This is what we're like in metal — we look after each other, don't we? So when the moment came and Glenn said he would step back a little bit, and Andy was in the studio at the same time when we were rehearsing [for the] 'Firepower' [tour], we were just so grateful, because he is a guy that's got so many things going on. But he said, 'This is important. If you'll have me, let me do what needs to be done.' And, again, the fans, as much as us in the band, we're just so happy to see him up there night after night doing Glenn's parts and giving it the full metal power. We're just gonna wait and see. We'll see how we are at the end of the 'Firepower' experience. A lot of it's up to Andy. He's got other things that I'm sure he needs to look at, as far as studio production and this and that and the other. So we're just really, really happy with what we've got right now, as far as what needs to be done from the stage, and that's the most important thing.

On PRIEST's future plans after the final show of the "Firepower" tour:

Rob: "All of us in PRIEST are very creative people, and if you have the ability and you have the desire to be in a situation where you're making your music, that really is what PRIEST has been doing forever. We're a working metal band. We go out on these big, massive world tours to support our latest work… [collection of] songs that we've made. And so I can't see any reason to stop unless there's an absolutely good reason. I mean, I can imagine Glenn and Richie [Faulkner, guitar] and myself sitting down again sometime in the near future and writing new metal. We wanna do that. The inspiration that our fans have given us and all of our friends in the media that have given us from the success of 'Firepower'… While you've got the 'Firepower' roaring, why would you wanna stop? We'll just keep going and going. We don't have any end in sight."

Tipton found out he had Parkinson's five years ago — after being stricken by the degenerative condition at least half a decade earlier — but announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". The guitarist, who is now 71 and has performed on every PRIEST LP since the band's 1974 debut set, "Rocka Rolla", is not quitting the band, but simply cannot handle the rigorous challenges of performing live.

"Firepower" was released in March 2018 via Epic.

PRIEST will return to the United States in May for a run with fellow classic heavy rockers URIAH HEEP.