Judas Priest singer Rob Halford supports Ozzy Osbourne

Rob Halford has supported Ozzy Osbourne in his difficult decision to stop touring.

Earlier this year, the metal legend revealed that his “touring days… have ended,” meaning his upcoming tour with Judas Priest was cancelled. And in a new interview with Metal Hammer, Judas Priest singer Halford had only supportive words for Ozzy’s choice.

“I can only reinforce what all of Ozzy’s fans, including us in Judas Priest, have said to him though, which is that he has done so much for all of us in rock and metal. He’s done so much for his fans, and we all know how bad he feels about having to cancel because he lives for those fans. You can see that every time he goes onstage, he’s beaming and connecting with everybody,” he said.

Halford added that it must have been “terrible for him” to come to that difficult decision. “He made the right call. I don’t think he wanted to put himself through a thing where it’s like “Okay, we’ll have a go” then have to cancel after a couple of shows. Even though there’s a lot of love for him and a lot of care and understanding, I’ve seen what the British metal maniacs have been saying and it’s exactly how I feel too – put your feet up, you’ve earned it!”

Halford also revealed that he hasn’t yet “spoken to Ozzy in person,” but that he “sent him a text the other day congratulating him on his two Grammys – ‘well done bab, love ya!” Ozzy, of course, won two awards at the 2023 Grammys (Best Rock Album for Patient Number 9 and Best Metal Performance for ‘Degradation Trip’).

As for Judas Priest, Halford confirmed that his band are “frantically trying to figure out” if they can arrange a tour of the U.K. this year before working on new music.

“We’ve been away from our British fans for too long, and we’re trying behind the scenes to put things together for this year if we can make it happen and if we’ve got something to announce, we absolutely will,” he said.

For more on this topic, follow the Metal Observer.