Rob Halford Reveals the Secret to Judas Priest’s Grammy Win

Before Judas Priest emerged victorious in the Best Metal Performance category at this year's Grammy Awards, the iconic British rockers had been nominated four previous times and gone home without the award every time. But Priest frontman Rob Halford tells Noisecreep he just believed this time would be different. "When they nominated the band I said to everybody, 'We're gonna win it. I just feel it. Don't ask me how. I just feel we're gonna win it,'" he says.

Still, even with his hunch, Halford was taking no chances, buying himself a good luck charm. "[I said], 'I'm going and I'm going to buy a tux. And if I buy a tux that definitely means we're gonna win it,'" he says.

So with the premonition and the tux, Halford had to know Priest couldn't lose, right? Maybe, but he says the when the band's name was called, it was still mind blowing. "It comes to your moment, and your name is there on the big screen -- suddenly reality starts swirling around and you get lightheaded and your heart starts racing," he says. "They go, 'The Grammy goes to Judas Priest.' And as you get out of the seat, you don't feel as though it's real. This might sound very dramatic, but it's true. It's just a very surreal moment."

Of course they could've also been made lightheaded by having to wait so long in the pre-telecast to get to their award. "The metal section is at the very end, so you're sitting there for three hours and 20 minutes. And you've heard somebody go, 'I'd like to thank god, and I'd like to thank Kathy Griffin, and I'd like to thank so-and-so,'" he says.

That Grammy breakthrough turned out to be just a warm up though, as the awards are starting to come in. Next, Halford will be honored with a Golden God award, which 'embodies all that is metal' April 8 in Los Angeles as part of Revolver magazine's 'Golden Gods.' Halford had an 'I'm not worthy' moment when he found out about the lofty accolade, which will be presented to him by longtime friend Ozzy Osbourne. "I don't know if it's a British temperament, but you go, 'We don't really deserve it. We just do what we love to do,'" he says. "But at the same time, you welcome it. It's a wonderful feeling. But if it's a really solid award, like a Grammy or this Revolver thing, which is the only type in America like that, it's tremendously important."