Fans may still be adjusting to the recent announcement by metal veterans Judas Priest that they will kick off a farewell tour in 2011, but it’s clearly something the band has given some thought to.
On the road with Halford, Priest frontman Rob Halford spoke with SignOnSanDiego.com recently about a variety of topics, including the decision by the band to stop touring.
Here’s some of the conversation SignOnSanDiego.com’s George Varga:
Q: Does it feel like the start of a new chapter with the second decade of the Halford band starting, and the looming end of an old chapter, with Judas Priest having recently announced its farewell tour in 2011?
HALFORD: I suppose the way I perceive my life as a musician is that I’ll just continue doing what I’ve always done. Of course, the bulk of my metal life has been with Judas Priest, and, yes, we are making this farewell tour next year and probably into 2012. But we do have a few more things we want to say What we’d rather do, for the time being, is let this information settle, because its very big news for a lot of fans.
So, we want to let the firestorm settle down. For all intents and purposes, it is the farewell tour.
Q: Why?
HALFORD: I don’t know really. It really is for a lot of reasons. I suppose retirement or slowing down, if you want to call it that, I don’t know. I think you have to face mortality, that’s for sure. Some bands keep going and going, some bands ease off a bit, and some bands stop altogether. It happens to all bands, eventually, and now this is something we’re facing in Judas Priest. So, what we want to do is leave on what we feel are respectable terms, musically.
Q: But Judas Priest is still playing well and sounding good and continues to be popular around much of the world. Why quit now?
HALFORD: It’s what I call the ‘Muhammad Ali syndrome.’ If you get in the ring too much, the whole thing can become really sad to look at and listen to. And you have to ensure that doesn’t happen as a musician, especially in the extreme world of heavy metal, because it’s very demanding to carry these old bodies all over the place. You try to do the things you could easily do 30 years ago and it’s not so easy.
What we would like our fans to do is consider that this something to celebrate and not feel sad or depressed about. It won’t be all over in a flash.
There’s lots more – check out the full interview at SignOnSanDiego.com here.
See also:
Judas Priest announce farewell tour
Judas Priest – Victim Of Changes
Mid-South Coliseum – Memphis, TN – December 12, 1982
