Judas Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens discussed his vocal influences during a recent interview for the Akron Beacon Journal 's Now You Know Akron .
He said: “Vocally, I sing what I want to sound like. My voice is everywhere. I mean, I can sing like Sepultura , I can sing like Pantera , I can sing like anyone, because I can do everything. But when I sing, there will be similarities to Judas Priest, because I have high notes. Whenever someone has a high note, it's going to be like, 'Oh, listen. He sounds like Rob Halford .' And it's like, I can stay away from him, but probably more of an influence on me vocally is Ronnie [James Dio] .”
Furthermore, Owens spoke about being inspired by Chris Cornell , Jon Oliva ( Savatage ), David Wayne of Metal Church , and even David Bowie . “If people listen to a lot of my more recent stuff – I’ve been writing for a band called Pyramid . When I write songs, you can hear a lot of David Bowie coming through, because it’s a very heavy progressive band, so suddenly I have these bits of David Bowie.”
According to him, the artist's inspiration comes from various references, practically anything.
Asked if he had any secrets to keeping his voice in good condition all these years, Owens said there isn't a single way. He claims he drinks plenty of water, sleeps well, and doesn't drink a drop of alcohol.
"I think things hurt me mentally more than anything else these days. I tell myself I'm not going to be as good, and I end up being quieter on the days I'm going to do shows, it dries up my voice," he said.
“But it’s definitely not the same voice it used to be. I have to work much harder and pray much more each day to be able to sing well. I can’t just roll out of bed and start singing,” he added.
Owens recorded two studio LPs with Judas Priest: Jugulator (1997) and Demolition (2001), before the group reunited with Rob Halford.
In 2019, Owens told Talking Metal that Judas Priest's manager requested that he stop using artwork related to his time with the group to promote his solo shows.
More than two years ago, he defended Kenneth “KK” Downing regarding comments the former Judas Priest guitarist made about his former bandmates in his autobiography, explaining that Downing is “just telling the truth.”
Owens and Downing are currently in a new band called KK'S Priest with guitarist AJ Mills ( Hostile ), bassist Tony Newton ( Voodoo Six ), and drummer Sean Elg ( Deathriders, Cage ). KK'S Priest's debut album, Sermons Of The Sinner , will be released on October 1st.
Check out the full interview: