There are rock and roll heroes and then there’s the Metal God. His name is Rob Halford.
He’s fronted the legendary rock band Judas Priest for over 40 years and together they have sold over 50 million albums. To many people, including myself, Halford is on the Mount Rushmore of all time vocalists.
Halford also recently released his autobiography – CONFESS. You can add great writer to his resume as well. His story is incredible and his journey is something that reads like a Hollywood script. Albeit a Quentin Tarantino film. But in all seriousness, Confess is easily one of my favorite autobiographies, ever.
I had a nice chat with Rob and I asked him why right now was the right time to finally publish a biography. Halford tells me, “It’s strange, isn’t it? Because I’ve been approached many, many times over the years to think about making a book like this. I’d always said that I don’t feel that the time was right and wanted more miles under my metal roots, so to speak.”
Halford continues, “I felt internally that this felt like the right time or better time to do it especially coming off of that massively successful “Firepower” tour. All of us the band were really excited about the future and that included this book and to finally get around to making this book become real.”
The pages are filled so many great stories and memories – both good and bad. But you get the sense that Halford has always been able to persevere and make the best out of whatever situation he found himself in. And he does this by absolutely keeping the reader entertained with anecdotes and an unbelievable sense of humor. Seriously – I challenge you to read this book and not laugh your arse off. There were several times I had to put it down to wipe my eyes from laughing so hard. I even mentioned one particular story about him in a van.. Let’s just say we both got a good chuckle out of it.
You also learn a great deal about not only him but the bands roots as well. There’s section in the book about the first two Judas Priest records – ‘Rocka Rolla’ and ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’. Halford tells the reader that after all of these years him and the band have been unable to regain the rights to those albums.
When I asked Halford if there has been any new developments he answers in true Rob Halford manner, “You never give up on things like that, Tommy. We’ve been pushed back many, many times, saying it’s never going to happen. The more they say that to me.. I’ll make it happen. :laughs: I’d like to think that eventually, we’ll reach a sensible conclusion. Because it’s just kind of a little blip of us owning and taking care of two very important records for us. So never say never.”
Halford’s positivity is inspiring.
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-Tommy Marz
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You can check out CONFESS on Amazon by clicking HERE
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