Judas Priest

Judas Priest are one of the pioneers of the heavy metal genre and were forerunners of the 'New Wave of British Heavy Metal' movement, laying the groundwork for the speed and thrash metal of the 80s and 90s back in the late 70s.

The band was formed in 1967 by guitarist Kenneth "K. K." Downing, bassist Ian Hill and original singer Alan Atkins. A second guitarist, Glenn Tipton, was also added to the lineup as compensation for their record company's (Gull Records) suggestion to add a horn section to the first album. This "twin axe attack" was not particularly popular at the time, but worked wonders for the group later on and would inspire other bands to do the same. Soon Atkins would be replaced permanently with Rob Halford and the band would go on to record 14 albums from 1974 through 1990. Rob Halford decided to leave the group in 1993, going in a new direction with his new, short-lived metal band, Fight.

With Halford gone and pursuing various solo projects (Fight, Two, Halford), the future looked bleak for the band, but after numerous searches for a suitable replacement, they found something special in tribute band front man Tim "Ripper" Owens. This story forms the basic plot of the movie "Rock Star," which was originally to be completely about Judas Priest and the Ripper, titled "Metal God," but the script was altered after the failure to reach an agreement with the band. Priest would make a total of 4 albums with Owens (2 studio, 2 live records) which were greeted with mixed reactions from fans.

In 2003 the classic 1990 lineup was restored when Rob Halford returned to the group after rekindling the relationship during work on Judas Priest's 4-CD career retrospective "Metalogy". In 2004 the band dominated Ozzfest and released a CD of new studio material and even a live DVD in 2005, enjoying an extremely successful world tour that year. After an emotional reunion, extensive tour and new studio album, the band already has plans for a new record, in the first months of 2008.It will be Judas Priest's first conceptual album based upon the life and predictions of Nostradamus.