Judas Priest Logo Designer + Album Artist Rosław Szaybo Dead at 85
Rosław Szaybo, the designer behind Judas Priest's logo and classic album artwork, has died at the age of 85.
The artist was born in Poland on Aug. 13, 1933 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1961. His work as chief artistic director at CBS (from 1972 through 1988) found him contributing album artwork for acts such as Elton John, The Clash, Santana, Janis Joplin, Roy Orbison, Mott the Hoople and many others in addition to Judas Priest.
Szaybo's work can be seen on Judas Priest's Sin After Sin (1977), Killing Machine (1978), Stained Class (1978), British Steel (1980) and the European version of Point of Entry (1981). His hand is also the one seen gripping the razor blade on the British Steel cover.
"Our memories of Rosław Szaybo are strong and he will always be remembered for his now legendary covers he created for Judas Priest as well as the Priest logo - our thoughts and condolences are with his family - love to Ros," wrote Judas Priest on Twitter.
In his memoir, Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest, guitarist K.K. Downing recalled the Stained Class artwork. "Roszlav Szaybo's cover image for the record was fabulous in its futuristic appeal. He perfectly captured, with that single image of the strange glass-and-copper head, where I thought we were at the time, but he also left scope, intentionally or otherwise, for something to build on."
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