Judas Priest’s Rob Halford: ‘This Doesn’t Have to Stop’ Because of Age

It hasn't been lost on many music fans that some of hard rock and metal's top draws are acts that are entering their golden years. But Rob Halford says that the idea that permeated the business in his youth -- that rock was "a young man's business" -- has been put to the test by some of music's legendary acts.

The Judas Priest frontman tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I don't know when that changed. I think it's just been a very slow progression through the back end of the '60s and the '70s. A lot of people just became more attuned to the fact that, hey, this doesn't have to stop, just when you reach a certain point in your life. This doesn't have to finish because people go, 'How can you be a 60-year-old metalhead? That's for young people, you know.'"

The rocker says part of the reason for the longevity is the willingness of parents to pass down the music to their kids. "It does your heart good. That's remarkable," says Halford. "I remember when I was growing up, you didn't like the music that mom and dad liked and now, the kids are coming to Priest shows, putting the horns up with their mum and daddy at the side of them. I think that's pretty cool, man. I really do."

He concludes, "You probably know that a lot of us that have had the good fortune to stay the course, whether it's Priest or KISS or Maiden or Motorhead, AC/DC — there's a ton of bands that are still the backbone, really, of the rock and roll industry that have been going around the world doing what we do. It's just remarkable. It's just that power — the rock and roll power, I call it — that just has the ability to constantly touch people from every generation."

Halford and his Judas Priest cohorts are keeping the momentum going with their Redeemer of Souls album and current tour. They currently have North American tour stops scheduled through mid-November, then head off to Europe for the remainder of the year, touring into mid-December. See all of their dates here.

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