Legendary Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford is on the precipice of releasing his highly-anticipated autobiography, Confess.
In promotion of the novel, Halford recently took part in a lengthy interview with GQ, where he discussed everything from his sobriety, fronting a heavy metal band as a gay man, turning 70, the future, and the music he is most excited about.
In January, Halford celebrated his 34th anniversary of sobriety. When asked about how that has affected him, Halford mused: “I have a clarity now on everything, especially when it comes to my work.
“I’m able to perceive my music more clearly, with a lot less clutter and that’s important as a musician, particularly for me, particularly because I love what I do and I love Judas Priest so much.
“I like to feel that being clean and sober has made me able to do my work much more efficiently; I look back on some of my lyrics and they are a touchstone. If you look at the lyrics on ‘Nostradamus’, they are some of the best I’ve ever written. I’m proudest of that and I doubt very much I’d have achieved those if I had a joint in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.”
Halford added that despite his period of excess erring on the side of dangerous, he has no regrets.
“I just loved those drinking and drugging times. I loved them. Even though the end game was total self-destruction, at the time, yeah, it was great.
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“In your youth that’s what you do, isn’t it? You have a weird party and do crazy stuff and it’s a rite of passage. I have fond memories of those times, even though it got pretty dangerous for me and I don’t look back at it all and have regrets. I have never had regrets. I think you learn from your mistakes, but I don’t regret anything. It’s gone, so utilise it, if it’s of any use to you, and move on.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Halford reflected on the time he handcuffed himself to Andy Warhol. Musing that if there were ever a film mad about Confess, he would love to see that scene played out.
When asked about who he thinks has the chops to play the Metal God, Halford shared, ” I don’t know. I’d like it to be a Brit.”
He continued, “If there was a young Gary Oldman that would be good, but then with CGI you can do anything now, can’t you? He was mind-blowing as Winston Churchill and he’s just a national treasure, isn’t he? He could do the job I’m sure! All this wishful thinking is fun.”
Would love to see a CGI’d Gary Oldman as Rob Halford, like a leather-clad Robert DeNiro in The Irishman.
Check out Rob Halford performing ‘Silent Screams’:
