Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has mused on the music that has influenced him most profoundly, from the likes of Queen, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
The legendary rocker recently sat down with Rolling Stone in promotion of his debut memoir, Confess: The Autobiography. During the interview, he delved into his personal musical heroes. Revealing that he resonates deeply with the identity of Brit royalty, Queen.
On the band’s 1974 record Queen II, Rob Halford mused “I have always been a massive Queen fan. Every single album that I listen to by Queen has its own character and identity, much like Priest in that respect.”
He continued, “I’ve kind of suggested that in some elements, Priest is like Queen because no two Priest albums are the same.
“It’s very much the case with Queen. The second album, Queen II, defines that. By the time they did Queen II, they’d become very adventurous. They were just going panoramic.
“The landscape of their music was just ginormous, particularly in the voice sense, all of those incredible harmonies that they did together.
“And that’s the other thing I love about Queen, that everybody used to sing on the records, primarily Roger [Taylor, drums] and Brian [May, guitar] and sometimes [bassist] John Deacon. But the vocal impact for me as a singer was immense. It really taught me a lot.”
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Halford went on to detail the special bond he has with Black Sabbath, a band that cut their teeth around the same area as Priest during their comeuppance.
“They were local guys from the same neighbourhood, the same neck of the woods as Priest. We literally grew up together, inventing this great music that we love and cherish so much called heavy-metal music,” he added.
