TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS Explains Why He Calls Himself A COVID-19 'Superspreader'

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens has once again explained why he calls himself a COVID-19 "superspreader", saying that he is still able to infect others with the virus even after being fully vaccinated.

The 54-year-old Owens, who frequently "likes" tweets that amplify Republican talking points and that are derogatory to Democrats, weighed in on the effectiveness of vaccines on the spread of the virus's latest variant while appearing on the latest episode of "The Chuck Shute Podcast".

He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You get the vaccine and you get the boosters, but you still can catch COVID. And I have to get the booster up to date to go to Spain in a couple of weeks. But that doesn't mean I don't have COVID coming into the country. Being vaccinated, you can have COVID just as easy — it's a fact — as someone who's not vaccinated. I mean, I might live longer than my 55-year-old buddy, but… But that's what makes me laugh. I call myself a superspreader because if I'm sick — I'm not going and getting tested every time I'm sick. I got vaccinated, so I should be healthy.

"Listen, I'm not mad at unvaccinated people," Owens clarified. "I just hate unvaccinated people getting on the vaccinated people, and the vaccinated people acting like unvaccinated people are the problem. It's, like, no — you guys are all out there dancing around at parties like you're fine 'cause you're vaccinated. I mean, everybody can be spreading it. But we have to live with it now. It sucks, it's serious — you've still gotta take it serious — but you've gotta live."

This past May, Owens accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of not telling the truth and has blasted U.S.'s top infectious disease expert for changing his COVID-19 recommendations as frequently as "people change their underwear."

Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, has received criticism from Republican leaders throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with some of them asking him to resign over his handling of COVID-19.

In September 2021, Owens, who lives in Akron, Ohio, offered his opinion on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director while responding to a headline from conservative media outlet The Blaze about Fauci's comment that three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were likely needed at that point in time for full protection.

Tim tweeted: "He changes what he says over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. So we find out masks don't work and vaccines don't work. So wear 5 masks and get 5 vaccines. ( just so you know I'm vaccinated and I wore a mask, oh yea and I've had Covid )".

The singer elaborated on his Fauci comments during an interview with Sofa King Cool. When the interviewer said that it's "frustrating" to see official recommendations constantly changing, Owens said: "It is frustrating. But then if you say anything about it changing every day, those people will go, 'Oh, you're anti-science 'cause you bring up that it's changing.' And it's, like, no, it just changes every day. I mean, I understand why it's changing every day: we're dealing with something that we don't know what we're dealing with."

He continued: "My girlfriend's a paramedic and my good friend's a doctor. I understand everything that goes on. But these same people that get mad at people [for pointing out the fact that recommendations are constantly changing]… If you went to [an auto mechanic] and got your car fixed, and they said, 'It's gonna be 95 dollars,' and then they called you and said, 'It's gonna be 150,' and you're, like, 'Okay.' And then you picked it up and they go, 'That's two thousand dollars you owe me.' And you're, like, 'What?' And they're, like, 'Well, we found things along the way that changed, and now it's two thousand.' Would those people be, like, 'Okay, I understand. You're a mechanic and things change'? No, they would be pissed off because it's changing.

"I think it's the way we're told," Tim explained. "We're told that this will work and then it doesn't. But instead of saying, 'This might work.' That's the issue. There was no, 'The vaccines might work.' No. When you got a vaccine originally, it was a hundred percent this was gonna clear everything up. I think it's the way it's worded [that is the problem].

"I understand things change," Owens repeated. "I got vaccinated and I wear masks when I have to, just because I wanna go back to work — I wanna tour. I got COVID last year. I had more effects from Mexican food than I did from getting COVID, but I got COVID. I believe it's there. It doesn't hurt me to wear a mask in a supermarket. But it's just things change and it's what we're told. It's crazy what's being said. So nobody knows what's going on."

Owens went on to say that "people should get vaccinated. I think especially if you're older or you're unhealthy or you have underlying conditions, you should get vaccinated. I want the world to go back to normal.

"It's funny 'cause you can still be pro-vaccine, believe in COVID, pro-mask, but if you say Fauci changes his mind, you get death threats. That's the way the world is now. 'Oh, you're anti-science.' No. I understand why he changes his mind, but the fucker changes his mind. I mean, one mask, two masks, three masks, eight… I mean, what do we get now? Ten vaccines to make it work? I get it why — we don't know what we're dealing with. Ten years from now, we're still gonna be learning what we're dealing with. Pretty soon, we're gonna have to have a flashing light coming out of our assholes to say that we've been vaccinated and [provide] blood samples to go get a Big Mac."

Tim stressed that he is not opposing local mandates. "I say we do anything we can now to fix things," he said. "But I think everybody's so confused. When the doctor tells people out of the gate masks don't work, and then, a month later, he says everybody wear a mask. I mean, that's the issues we have.

"This isn't about politics," he continued. "And that's the other thing: if you don't like Fauci, that means you're a Republican. If you wear a mask and believe in vaccines, that means you're a Democrat. I've got everybody fucking fucked up, because I wear a mask and got vaccinated and I don't like Fauci.

"Again, like I told you, I understand why he changes his mind. It's science. We don't understand it. Everybody's fine with that… I get it. It's science. I get why he changes things. But don't tell us. Don't come out and tell everybody, 'Masks don't work and you don't have to wear a mask.' Be a little more truthful — I think that's the issue. That's why everybody's confused."

In January 2020, Owens told Detroit's WRIF radio station that he is "a middle-of-the-road guy in politics. I don't really talk too much about it," he said. "My Facebook page and my Instagram and Twitter pages aren't filled with it. I don't post about it — I might like something, but I don't post it. I kind of call it common sense — I think whatever is right, I kind of think is right. But, man, when someone thinks you're one way… I'm not joking about it. This never happened in the past. Eight years ago, four years ago, ten years ago, this stuff didn't happen — I get messages wishing death upon my family if I don't believe in their political views. And it's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I've never done that in my life."

Owens weighed in on the U.S. presidential race back in 2016, saying that Trump was perhaps what America needed to move the country forward. Claiming that he wasn't a Democrat or a Republican ("I'm in the middle," he said),Owens explained that he couldn't vote for Hillary Clinton because of "the way they tax people." He went on to say that America "had eight years of really bad" under President Barack Obama and opined that "a lot of American people" were "just trying to figure out something other than what [Obama] was doing."

Back in 2012, Owens revealed in an interview that he was voting for Mitt Romney in that year's election.

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band, 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition", before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.

Owens is currently in a new band called KK'S PRIEST with ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing, along with guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE),bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX) and drummer Sean Elg (DEATHRIDERS, CAGE).

KK'S PRIEST's debut album, "Sermons Of The Sinner", was released last October via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.