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ROB HALFORD: How My Sister Was 'My Opening Door To My Life In JUDAS PRIEST'

October 26, 2020

Rob Halford spoke to WeAreIowa.com about how he came to join JUDAS PRIEST in 1973 after being introduced to bassist Ian Hill through his sister, who was dating Hill at the time.

"My beautiful sister Sue," Halford said (see video below). "She's playing 'Jingle Bells' on [Rob's] 'Celestial' album that came out last year. She's so important to me, as [is] all of our family. They make us who we are. We live our lives through each other in that respect.

"But the story with Sue and with JUDAS PRIEST is a fantastic one, because at that particular time, PRIEST were looking for a new singer, and my sister Sue was dating Ian — Ian 'Bass God' Hill from JUDAS PRIEST," he continued. "And he happened to mention to Sue, 'Yeah, we're looking for a singer. And it's been really difficult. We've looked here and we've looked there.' And so Sue says, 'My brother is a bit of a singer.' And [Ian goes], 'Really?' 'Yeah. Yeah.' 'Well, maybe he'd like to have an audition with the band.'

"So, if it wasn't for Sue, if it wasn't for my sister — I'm sure every family has a glorious moment like this — things could have turned out quite differently. But she was my opening door to my life in JUDAS PRIEST."

Hill married Sue in 1976 and they divorced in 1984. They share a son, Alex, who was born in 1980.

Halford's autobiography, "Confess", arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx.

Halford is not the first member of PRIEST's classic lineup to release a book. Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", in September 2018 via Da Capo Press.

In 2009, original JUDAS PRIEST singer Al Atkins released his autobiography, titled "Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas Priest And Heavy Metal". Hill penned the foreword to the book, which was written with Neil Daniels — a freelance rock writer and heavy metal fan who befriended Atkins during the writing of Neil's book "The Story Of Judas Priest: Defenders Of The Faith" (Omnibus Press).

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