Judas Priest recently released the album Firepower
Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford spoke in an interview with Noisey about when he decided to come out as gay.
“When you’re a musician, one of the things that comes early on is quite unexpected, which is the reaction of your fans and how your music plays an important role in their lives, in discovering things. What happened to me the moment I came out as gay, I never thought about the consequences. Of course, you become news and that’s big. As a result, you then receive beautiful messages from your fans around the world saying that, because you are able to step forward and proclaim your sexuality strongly, in a proud way, that it has helped them in life and you think, ‘Wow.’ So, as a gay man in Metal, I appreciate the opportunity to reinforce that statement. These are difficult times for many of us. On this issue of sexuality, you can talk. When the terrible scourge of the AIDS epidemic hit the world, up to that point, the gay community didn’t really have a very strong voice. An organization in London called Act Up…they were rallied in Parliament, held large demonstrations and had a simple slogan – “Silence equals death.” That simple statement was very profound. The battle continues for me, As a gay man, I won't be happy until I see equality in general. That's vital. I don't think it's right that there's one set of rules for one individual and another set of rules and laws for another individual. That's not how the world should work.
Judas Priest recently released their album Firepower. Listen here .
The lead singer also spoke about the song "No Surrender" from the band's new album:
“The great thing about Judas Priest all these years is that we’ve always carried this Metal flag, this beacon of hope that, no matter what you’re going through in life, there’s always a sense of overcoming difficulties, a sense of winning. We always try to push that kind of positive experience into the music we make. So, 'No Surrender' is a statement. It’s a simple fact that, from our perspective, no matter what you face, the best thing you can do is face that challenge. Win and never surrender.”.
