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JUDAS PRIEST singer
Rob Halford says that he "would love" to see his band get inducted into the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame while he is still alive.
PRIEST was previously on the ballot for
Rock Hall induction in 2020, but failed to receive enough votes to make that year's class.
Having been eligible for induction since 1999,
PRIEST was also on the ballot for the 2018 class of the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.
On February 2, it was announced that
JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2022. Inductees will be announced in May. The
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2022 induction ceremony will take place this fall. The date, venue, and on-sale information will be announced later.
Asked in a new interview with the
Boston Globe if he welcomes that "sort of quote-unquote respectability, being canonized, as it were,"
Halford said: "Those are two great words, 'respect' and 'canonization.' I'll take both of those, because that's what it is.
"For the
Rock Hall, you have to put about 25 years of your life into music, which we've done twice," the 70-year-old vocalist continued. "For us, it's as much about heavy metal music having its rightful representation as it is for anything else.
"The
Hall is a beautiful place, because if you really love music and you pull down all the barriers about, 'Oh, I hate this band and I hate that band, I hate this music and I hate that music.' If you could throw it out the window, music is music is music. So what you're left with is looking at all these incredibly talented, powerful musicians, either bands or individual artists that have really poured their heart and soul out into their art, into their craft and shared it with probably billions of people by now.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed that we do get in,"
Rob added. "Personally, I'd love it. I think there's nothing wrong in celebrating each other's achievements. Because we all do the same thing. It doesn't matter whether we're in a country and western band or a soul band or a rapper, we all do the same thing. There's a connectivity in the craft that we make. We'll wait and see. I think it's gonna happen eventually. When I'm alive, please, would be nice."
Once again, the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has named the individual bandmembers that will enter should their group get inducted.
For
JUDAS PRIEST, they picked current members
Halford,
Ian Hill (bass),
Glenn Tipton (guitar) and
Scott Travis (drums), along with former members
K.K. Downing (guitar),
Les Binks (drums) and late drummer
Dave Holland.
Back in October 2020,
Halford said that the heavy metal genre "hasn't been respected enough" by the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Asked in an interview with
Word In Your Ear if he was "bothered" by the fact that
PRIEST hasn't been inducted into the
Rock Hall yet,
Halford said: "Well, let's put it this way. You have all of these institutions here in America — you've got the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for music; you've got the
Basketball Hall Of Fame; you've got the
Baseball Hall Of Fame;
Football — you've got all of these places where, I think essentially, it's just a really nice, cool recognition of what you've done, the work that you've done and the things that you've achieved, the place that you've been put at, and so on and so forth.
"So, am I bothered if we ever get in? Not really. But I think we do deserve to be in there. Because I look at the list of people that are in there, and I feel that we have a place. And it would not only be for
JUDAS PRIEST — it would be for British music, particularly British heavy metal music, and that's a beautiful achievement. [
BLACK]
SABBATH are in there, which is great. But I've always said that as far as what the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame represents, the genre of heavy metal music hasn't really been looked after enough and respected enough.
"So, I'd like to feel that eventually we will get in."
Even though artists are eligible for the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like
PRIEST,
IRON MAIDEN and
MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted
GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.
The
Rock Hall didn't induct
BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and
METALLICA followed three years later.
Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the
Hall also claims that other "criteria include the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock 'n' roll," which is, of course, open to interpretation.
Eligible for induction since 1999,
KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.
DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the
Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until 2016.
After the 2020
Rock Hall inductees were announced in January of that year,
JUDAS PRIEST guitarist
Richie Faulkner said that it made no sense that
DEPECHE MODE,
Whitney Houston,
NINE INCH NAILS and
Biggie Smalls were going into the
Rock Hall before
PRIEST. "Hence why the
Rock Hall holds no credibility for me and never has," he tweeted.
Last month,
Hill and
Halford told
Billboard that they would be happy to stand alongside
Downing at a hypothetical
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction later this year. "It's not a problem to us, no,"
Hill said. "
Ken was an integral part of this band for a very, very long time. He deserves to be there along with the rest of us."
Halford predicted that, "It won't be as awkward as
Ace [
Frehley] and
Peter [
Criss with
KISS's
Rock Hall induction]. I don't think it'll be awkward at all. I think you have to let all of that go because it's the night that matters. It's the moment that matters — but, again, the proverbial saying, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Downing previously told
Rockin' Metal Revival that there is a very good chance that he would perform with his former bandmates again if
PRIEST gets the nod. "Oh, I think absolutely," he said. "I mean, why wouldn't you, really? It's a special thing. We're all of an age now. These opportunities only come once in a lifetime. And it seemingly takes a lifetime to get into the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I've always said, there's no such thing as a young legend, right? [
Laughs] So, while we're still here, it would be great to receive that accolade and put on a great performance and put that one to bed."
A month before the start of
PRIEST's tour in support of its latest album,
"Firepower",
Tipton bowed out due to the worsening of his Parkinson's disease, first diagnosed eight years ago (after being stricken by the degenerative condition at least half a decade earlier). His spot in the band is being filled by
"Firepower" album producer
Andy Sneap.