TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS Says He Got COVID-19 Both Before And After He Got Vaccinated

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens says that he has contracted coronavirus twice — once before he got the COVID-19 vaccine and once after.

The 54-year-old Akron, Ohio-based musician revealed his latest battle with COVID-19 while responding to a tweet from American stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone. After Poundstone wrote, "I'm really enjoying not having COVID. I'm vaxxed, boosted, I try to keep my distance from people, and a wear a KN95 mask. It's quite pleasant, really.", Owens chimed in: "Thats awesome, I got covid before I was vaccinated and I got covid after I was vaccinated. Luckily only lost my taste and smell."

Last September, Owens confirmed to Canada's The Metal Voice that he was vaccinated and "was all for wearing masks. But to go back to work, I have to figure out a way to do it.

"I think one issue now is there's a lot of shows — I mean, there are so many damn shows that are happening that people have to pick and choose what they go to," he continued.

"If, like me, you're vaccinated, but you're all concerned about people who aren't vaccinated, then you shouldn't go out anyways; you should stay home. Because I probably know seven people that are vaccinated that have had it and two of them ended up in the hospital.

"I feel pretty safe — I got it, and I'm ready to rock; that's my whole thing.

"I think people, they're not going out quite as much, but if they try to careful — that's what I always say: just try to be careful," he added. "You can live your life; just be careful and do it. It's like if you go to a show and you drink, call an Uber and don't drive home. It's about the same thing.

"I think people are worried. Some people still don't wanna go out. And you can't disagree with them — if they don't wanna go out, they don't wanna go out. This is a scary world. But I think the big thing with concerts, there's a lot of concerts going on [right now] — I mean, a lot."

Earlier in Septemer, Owens said that he "got vaccinated" and he wears a mask when he has to, "just because I wanna go back to work — I wanna tour. I got COVID [in 2020]. 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. Right now we just wanna get some kind of normalcy."

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. I wanna tour. I wanna be able to go to the store now and find something on the shelf. I mean, the shelves are empty. I go to my grocery store, and they're fucking empty, man."

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 in October via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.