Judas Priest: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor + Reach Music Publishing has acquired both the master and publishing rights of heavy metal legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Judas Priest’s first two albums, “Rocka Rolla” and “Sad Wings of Destiny,” from Gull Entertainments. According to the announcement, Reach will be working in partnership with Judas Priest on these two albums and is planning a variety of projects to be announced later this year, including special releases for the 50th anniversary of “Rocka Rolla” in 2024. The majority of the group’s catalog was initially released on Sony Music’s Columbia or Epic labels but the first two albums, released in 1974 and 1976 respectively, had been owned by Gull for nearly 50 years.  

Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford has shared his thoughts on Ozzy Osbourne‘s recent retirement from touring.Speaking to Metal Hammer, Halford said he had not spoken to Osbourne in person since the latter announced his retirement from touring in early February. However, Halford texted Osbourne to congratulate him on his recent two-Grammy win for best rock album and best metal performance.Digging deeper into the topic of retirement, Halford said: “I can only reinforce what all of Ozzy’s fans, including us in Judas Priest, have said to him though, which is that he has done so much for all of us in rock and metal.

Ozzy Osbourne has been forced to cancel his UK and Europe tour after updating fans on his health.

Against her initial wishes, Dolly Parton was inducted into the US Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on Saturday night. She also performed at the event, including playing a new song called ‘Rockin’ and her best known song ‘Jolene’, for which she was joined by Pink, Brandi Carlile and fellow inductees Pat Benatar, Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, and – most surprisingly – Rob Halford of Judas Priest.Parton originally asked to be removed from the running for this year’s inductees, saying that – as a country artist – she didn’t feel she had “earned” the right to be included in a Hall Of Fame with a rock n roll remit.

Judas Priest has revealed that he’s currently recovering from his second open heart surgery.Sharing the health update via social media on Tuesday (September 27), the guitarist disclosed that he’d undergone the surgery six weeks ago, following the European leg of Judas Priest’s current world tour. “Just before we toured Europe,” Faulkner recalled, “scans showed a hole in one of the connections between the synthetic graft and my own aorta.”Faulkner went on to explain the condition, writing that “the blood from the leak was forming an 8cm sack that was surrounding [his] heart.” The guitarist elaborated on the procedure, saying that doctors were able to “remove the sack and fix the leak.” Now, weeks later, Faulkner said he is “feeling well and strong,” and is “looking forward” to resuming the next jaunt of the metal band’s ongoing tour.A post shared by Richie Faulkner (@falconfaulkner)Faulkner accompanied the update with a video of the crowd at last year’s Louder Than Life music festival.

Rob Halford has said he’s “a bit pissed” that Judas Priest weren’t honoured as one of the main performer inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame this year.The metal band will accept the Award for Musical Excellence at this year’s ceremony, which will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on November 5. The gong was first introduced in 2000 as the ‘Sideman’ category; it became the Award for Musical Excellence 10 years later.Joel Peresman, the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, previously said: “This award gives us flexibility to dive into some things and recognise some people who might not ordinarily get recognised.”But in a recent interview with AZ Central, Halford expressed his frustration over not being listed among this year’s main Rock Hall honourees which include Eminem, Duran Duran and Dolly Parton.“I was a bit pissed. At the end of the day, does it matter?” the frontman said.

Judas Priest have confirmed that their former guitarist K.K. Downing will join them at their 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction this November.The influential English heavy metal band will accept the Award for Musical Excellence at this year’s ceremony.

Eminem, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie are all set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2022.Eurythmics, Carly Simon, Judas Priest and Pat Benatar will also be inducted into the Hall Of Fame this year.Kate Bush, Beck, DEVO, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, Rage Against The Machine and Dionne Warwick made the initial shortlist for 2022, but didn’t make the final cut.The honourees — voted on by more than 1000 artists, historians and music industry professionals — each “had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture and helped change the course of rock ’n’ roll,” said John Sykes, the chairman of the Rock Hall, in a statement.The 2022 event, which will be the Hall’s 37th annual induction ceremony, will be held on November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.The announcement comes after Parton initially refused the honour on the grounds that she didn’t feel that she had “earned the right”. But she reversed her stance last month to confirm she will accept the honour should she be voted in.Parton continued to explain that, at the time she made her statement bowing out, she hadn’t realised that the institution already included numerous artists from other genres outside the world of rock.

Dolly Parton, who said last week she would gracefully accept an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame if it were offered, will have to do just that: The country music superstar was among the nominees selected for a spot in the hall today.

Eminem, Duran Duran and Pat Benatar are among the artists to top this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fan ballot.Duran Duran, a first-time Rock Hall nominee in 2022, came out on top with nearly 934,000 votes, which was 250,000 more votes than second highest artist on the fan ballot, Eminem (684,000).Finishing just 50,000 votes behind the Detroit rapper, two-time nominee Benatar took third place on the fan ballot with 631,000. The fourth and fifth spots went to Eurythmics (442,000) and Dolly Parton (394,000) respectively.Finishing just outside the Top Five: Three-time nominee Judas Priest and first-time nominees Carly Simon and Lionel Richie.

Dolly Parton has reversed her stance on being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and said she will accept the honour should she be voted in.The country icon is among the shortlist for this year’s inductees, alongside the likes of Eminem, Kate Bush, Beck, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, MC5, Devo and Pat Benatar.Last month (March 14), Parton shared a statement saying that, while she was “extremely flattered and grateful” to be in the running, she didn’t feel that she had “earned the right”. “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out,” she wrote.However, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has not removed the musician’s name from the ballot.

Dolly Parton has remained on the list of this year's nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame despite asking to be removed because she hasn't 'earned that right.'The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation said in a statement on Thursday that, in effect, it is up to the voters to decide if country music icon Parton, 76, is elected.'Dolly's recommendation, along with the other 16 nominees for the class of 2022 was sent out earlier this month to our 1,200 general ballot voters, the majority of whom are artists themselves, for consideration for induction at our ceremony,' the statement read. Voter decision:Dolly Parton, show earlier this month in Las Vegas, has remained on the list of this year´s nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame despite asking to be removedOn Monday, Parton went on social media to 'respectfully bow out' of the process, saying she did not want to take votes away from the remaining nominees.Parton had no immediate comment on the Hall's decision.

Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has weighed in on Dolly Parton’s recent request to be withdrawn from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee list.Faulkner shared his thoughts on Parton’s withdrawal on the March 15 episode of the Rock of Nations with Dave Kinchen podcast, calling it “a classy move”. “I think she recognises her brand, and it didn’t necessarily fit into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. And I think it raises questions to what the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s brand is as well,” he said.“To call it the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and not have bands like Judas Priest in it from day one, I think, is a weird thing,” said Faulkner.

Chris Willman Music WriterDolly Parton’s attempt to drop out of the balloting for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has earned a big thank-you from Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner. He’s not exactly a disinterested party: Priest is on the ballot, too, competing with Parton.“I think she recognizes her brand, and it didn’t necessarily fit into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dolly Parton has asked to be taken out of consideration for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.In February, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame revealed its nominees for the Class of 2022. Alongside Dolly, the likes of Eminem, Kate Bush, Beck, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, MC5, DEVO and Pat Benatar all made it onto the nominees list.However, Parton has now asked to bow out, writing in a statement: “Even though I am extremely flattered to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right.

MC5 have announced their first album in over 50 years and a series of US tour dates.The band took to Instagram earlier today (March 9) to post a video, which you can view below, featuring old footage of the punk veterans and a snippet of the album’s title track ‘Heavy Lifting’. The song also features Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello.MC5 have reformed with original member Wayne Kramer, Pollo Elastica’s Brad Brooks, Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction), Vicki Randle (Mavis Staples) and guitarist Stevie Salas.The new LP, which is due to drop later this year, will be the band’s first proper studio effort since 1971’s ‘High Time’ and sees Kramer collaborating with Morello, Kesha, Jill Sobule, Tim McIlrath, and Alejandro Escovedo.The band will also hit the road for a US tour in May, dates for which you can view below.A post shared by MC5 (@mc5alive)Tickets for the shows will go on sale this Friday (March 11) and further information is available via Kramer’s Facebook page here.Meanwhile, MC5 were recently nominated for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame alongside Eminem, Kate Bush, Beck, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, DEVO and Pat Benatar.It is the Detroit rockers’ sixth nomination over the years ahead of the final shortlist in May.A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration.

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has taken the blame for the sudden changes to the band’s line-up, which saw the firing and re-hiring of their touring guitarist within a week.Back in January, Andy Sneap – who has toured with the band since 2018, subbing in for Glenn Tipton – was removed from the band ahead of their forthcoming North American tour. Five days later, however, the band announced that their touring line-up would remain “unchanged” and that Sneap would stay on.Now, in a new interview with Billboard, Halford has spoken about the confusing saga – ultimately attributing it to “a crazy idea” of reverting to a four-piece to reflect the band’s origins as a quartet.“That all came from me, it didn’t come from the band,” he said.

Eminem, Kate Bush, Beck, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Rage Against The Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Carly Simon, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, Dionne Warwick, MC5, DEVO and Pat Benatar have made the nominees list.A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration. Fans also have the chance to contribute to the selection process by voting every day here or at the museum in Cleveland, Ohio.Five acts will then be tallied among the other ballots to ultimately decide the Class of 2022.This year marks the first time that Eminem has become eligible for a nomination.

Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar, Dionne Warwick, Judas Priest, Beck and Duran Duran are among this year’s nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Clevaland-based Hall announced today.

Rob Halford is opening up about his battle with cancer.