Rob Halford states Judas Priest never had a need or desire to go into area of devil-worship lyrics

Rob Halford states Judas Priest never had a need or desire to go into area of devil-worship lyrics

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford was recently interviewed by RollingStone on the occasion of the release of his second album of Christmas themed songs, which is titled Celestial and just came out three days ago (on October 18, 2019)

With respect to whether he worried about making something that could be perceived as “Christian metal” which still has a stigma against it, Halford advised: “I think it’s beautiful how over the years, [faith] is accepted more, particularly in the metal world. I was reading a nice story from Jacoby [Shaddix] from Papa Roach about being very open about his faith. Some of us talk about it more openly and directly than others. I wasn’t raised in a strict, religious family — we didn’t go to church every Sunday — but the basic tenets of what we believed in were very apparent in the house. But more important to me, once I started my sober journey in 1986, that side of me became alive and very important to me. And it is important to me on a daily basis, so that also weaves itself into all the music and the spiritual side of the Celestial.”

When it was pointed out that Judas Priest have never really done devil-worship lyrics, Halford indicated: “Yeah, and I have a lot of friends that do that kind of thing in their bands, and with the First Amendment, it’s art. It should be censorship-free completely — a hundred, thousand percent. It doesn’t matter how disgusting and vile it might appear to others. Do not allow yourself to be censored. Say what you mean, say it from the heart. But in Priest, we’ve never really had a need or desire to go into that area. But I’ve always loved being in a band called Judas Priest because the two words together … you kind of make a bit of a bonfire for certain people.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Rob Halford at RollingStone‘s website.