When
it comes to heavy metal singers, few others can even come close to
matching Rob Halford. His voice is completely unique, and his
high-pitched operatic wails make his vocals instantly recognizable. Given his status in the heavy metal community, it goes without saying
that his singing style has influenced a countless number of artists
who came after him. In a career that has spanned more than three
decades now, Halford has seen multi-platinum, worldwide success
fronting the legendary Judas Priest, and has had an equally
impressive solo career for nearly twenty years now!
The
story behind the music begins on August 25, 1951, when young Robert
was born to working-class parents in Birmingham England. He first
began singing as a teenager, fronting a local band called Hiroshima,
while he worked as a theatrical lighting engineer by day. That band
didn't last long, and Rob went through a few other short-lived
musical projects before his fortunes changed in 1973. As fate would
have it, Rob's sister was dating Ian Hill, who was the bass player of
an up-and-coming local band called Judas Priest. One day, several of
the band members were hanging around the Halford home, and happened
to hear Rob singing along to the radio. Having just lost their
previous singer, they immediately arranged a tryout for Rob, and he
was quickly accepted into the group.
With
Rob now fronting the band, their sound shifted more toward heavy
metal. It didn't take them long to build a local following. By 1974,
their first album, Rocka Rolla,
was issued on Gull records. Unfortunately, the material on the album
was unfocused, and the record tanked. With each successive release,
however, the band honed its sound and its songwriting skills. Their
hard work paid off by broadening their worldwide fan base, and
leading to a string of what are now considered to be classic heavy
metal albums.
Priest's
climb to the top began with their 1976 release, Sad Wings Of
Destiny. The album gave them modest success, and their
popularity continued its slow but steady rise with future releases
like Sin After Sin in 1977, Stained Class
in 1978, and double dose featuring new studio album Hell Bent
For Leather,
as well as a blistering live recording called Unleashed In The
East in 1979. The last two recordings went on to have a
profound impact on the heavy metal world by being the inspiration
that launched many popular bands, including: Iron Maiden, Metallica,
Megadeth, and Pantera among others. Rob's influence on metal goes
beyond his singing prowess, however. His stage apparel also came to
define the heavy metal look. He would arrive dressed from head to toe
in black leather and studs, and driving a Harley onto the stage! In
addition, his stage presence as a performer, and his ability to work
an audience are second to none. Simply stated, he is the
quintessential heavy metal singer!
By
the dawn of the 1980s, Priest had a rabid underground following, and
they continued to focus on broadening their sound in an effort to
reach mainstream success. It would take a few more years for them to
reach the level that they had their sights set upon, but their
efforts to achieve this really showed in their Eighties releases. Even though the band had shown steady artistic growth with their past
records, the albums released during this period were much more
focused and polished than past records had been. On each of these the
material was stellar, and they brought the band one step closer to
their goal. Finally, their 1984 release Defenders Of The Faith
pushed them over the top, making the band a headlining arena
act. They finished out the eighties with four more successive
multi-platinum albums, and ushered in the 1990s with their most
monstrous creation to date: an album called Painkiller. By this point, it seemed they were only poised for even greater
success.
As
it turned out, that was not meant to be. Once they had finished the
massive tour for the album in 1992, Rob announced that after twenty
years, he was going to leave the band. His reasons had nothing to do
with the band itself; he loved being in Priest, but he had carried a
desire to experiment with other musical styles that could not be
expressed within the framework of the Judas Priest sound. Fortunately, the split was completely amicable, and everyone remained
on good terms.
Upon
his exit from his former band, Rob embarked on what would be an
extremely successful and creatively satisfying solo career for him. He immediately set himself to the task of forming a new band. The
result was a group that he called Fight, which was very similar in
style to Painkiller-era Priest. Fight would go on to release two full
length albums: War Of Words in 1993, and A Small
Deadly Space in 1995, as well as a disc of remixes called
Mutations that was released in between these records.
After
disbanding Fight in the latter half of 1995, Rob signed a deal with
Trent Reznor's label, Nothing Records. He formed a new project called
Two, which released a single album in 1997 called Voyeurs. Despite the fact that it's industrial sound was far different than
anything Rob had done in the past, the album still did reasonably
well. However, its sales were far below those of any other project
he'd been associated with.
It
was also around this time that Rob finally addressed long-standing
rumors about his sexuality, by announcing publicly that he was gay. This was a fact that had previously been known only by his band mates
and those close to him. They had tried to keep it a secret for fear
that it may damage his career, but it was long suspected by many fans
who had picked up on subtle references in his lyrics anyway. Some
were probably also tipped off by his leather clad look that was known
to be a popular mode of dress among some certain groups of gay men. The story came via MTV news in 1998. In his announcement, he said
that he hadn't even felt comfortable enough himself to publicly
address the issue until then. Surprisingly, the metal community
responded with an outpouring of support, quickly laying to rest any
fears that Rob may have had about alienating his fans.
Following
this, Rob took a brief rest before returning with a newly formed
group that bore his last name in 2000. Halford was a return to his
true heavy metal roots, and the closest thing in his solo career to
the classic Priest sound that he was known for. The band pumped out a
total of three albums, including their self-titled debut in 2000,
another concert recording called Live Insurrection in
2001, and a second studio release called Crucible in
2002. And new releases continue to pop up every few years!
Through
all of this, rumors that Rob would reunite with Judas Priest were
continual. Metal fans were elated when their wishes came true in
2003. The original Priest has since released two more albums,
Angel Of Retribution
in 2005, and Nostradamus
in 2008. Both recordings were accompanied by very
successful world tours that saw the band performing at the top of
their game and seemingly prepared to continue indefinitely.
Of
course, no one can predict the future, but where Rob Halford is
concerned, one quickly learns to expect the unexpected! At the age of
58, he shows no sign of slowing down...and one look at his impressive
resume is proof that he is not an artist who will ever be content to
rest on his laurels. Judging by what he has given us in the past, it
seems safe to assume that we will be hearing from the Metal God for a
long time to come!
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