JUDAS PRIEST’s ROB HALFORD: ‘I Still Get Bullied Occasionally On The Internet’

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

In a new interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One, JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford was asked if he wants to — as he says in his recently released autiobiography "Confess" — continue "screaming his tits off forever." He responded (hear audio below): "Yes. [Laughs] Being the stately homo of heavy metal, I'm allowed to say that I can do anything now. Everything bounces off me. I still get bullied occasionally on the Internet, social media. That's just the way it is." Asked if he reads any of the comments from his online haters, Rob, who became the first metal icon to announce he is gay in 1998 during an MTV interview, said: "Yeah, I do, because it's important that I do, because that way I know that there are still those kinds of people out there. And I embrace them. I don't push 'em away; I embrace them. I say, 'Let's talk about why you feel that way.' "You have to have empathy," he explained. "You can't put up walls. You can't suppress. You have to be open, you have to be ready to talk, no matter how difficult it is, because that can help. And if you can help somebody, that's a good thing to do." "Confess" arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books. Written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx, the book charts Halford's rock and roll lifestyle from the late eighties to the band's 50th anniversary in 2020. In September, JUDAS PRIEST and Rufus Publications announced the publication of the first-ever official JUDAS PRIEST book documenting the band's extensive history over the last 50 years. Titled "Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years", the book has been put together by David Silver, Ross Halfin and Jayne Andrews. Prior to being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, JUDAS PRIEST's spring/summer 2020 European tour was scheduled to kick off on May 30 in Helsinki, Finland and conclude on July 28 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The band was also slated to headline the U.K.'s Bloodstock Open Air festival on August 9 at Catton Park, Derbyshire. The U.S. leg of PRIEST's "50 Heavy Metal Years" tour was due to launch September 9 in Oxon Hill, Maryland and wrap up on October 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Halford is not the first member of PRIEST's classic lineup to release a book. Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", in September 2018 via Da Capo Press. In 2009, original JUDAS PRIEST singer Al Atkins released his autobiography, titled "Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas Priest And Heavy Metal". JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill penned the foreword to the book, which was written with Neil Daniels — a freelance rock writer and heavy metal fan who befriended Atkins during the writing of Neil's book "The Story Of Judas Priest: Defenders Of The Faith" (Omnibus Press).