Rob Halford Ponders Reuniting With Judas Priest

07/19/2000 10:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(7/19/00, 10 a.m. ET) - Former Judas Priest lead vocalist Rob Halford might be busy launching his new band, Halford, but that doesn't mean the metal master doesn't consider the possibility of hooking up with his previous band again. He left the Priest in the early '90s after two decades of service and tells LAUNCH, "The longer I'm away from it, the more I miss it." Halford says that it's just something that's ingrained in him. "You can't switch it on and off like a light switch. It's just in you, you know, it just won't let go. And I'm glad it doesn't, because it's just, that's it, you know. Some days I wake up in bed in a strange hotel room and I think I'm still in Judas Priest," he admits. "And I'm glad I think that way. And I have these dreams of being back with them on stage, and don't they say sometimes dreams come true? We'll see."

Halford says that there has been no talk of an actual reunion, but at least he's made strides toward patching up wounds stemming from his departure from the band after their 1990 album, Painkiller. "Families have fights and bust-ups," says Halford, "so you have to patch things up eventually. And that's what we're doing now, slowly but surely."

Judas Priest has ventured on without Halford, hiring Priest cover-band vocalist Tim "The Ripper" Owens as his replacement in the middle of the last decade. Owens's rags-to-riches story is the basis for the upcoming Mark Wahlberg film, So You Wanna Be A Rock Star, previously known as Metal God. Halford, meanwhile, continues to gear up for the release of his new band's debut, Resurrection and its opening slot on the arena tour of Iron Maiden and fellow support act Queensryche. The tour kicks off in Toronto on August 1. Resurrection arrives in stores a week later (August 8).

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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