Judas Priest singer Rob Halford reveals he got married last year in front of a small group of friends and a "heavy metal cactus"

Rob Halford of Judas Priest performs at OVO Arena Wembley on March 21, 2024 in London, England.

(Image credit: Chiaki Nozu/WireImage)

Metal God Rob Halford has revealed that he got married to his long-term partner Thomas in an intimate ceremony last December.

The Judas Priest frontman, 74, says he finally tied the knot after years of putting it off, mainly due to Thomas' deeply conservative background.

He tells the Queer the Music podcast: "We got married by the cactus outside on December the something or other, about a year or so ago.

"He's from Alabama. Extremely conservative. I stopped asking, 'Let’s get married.' 'No, I don’t want to get married.' 'Oh, let’s just get married. We’ve been together forever.' 'No, I don’t want to get married,.'

"And then suddenly on one of our night walks, he goes, 'I think we should get married.' Straight home, on the phone to get a pastor."

Halford says it was a simple ceremony with few guests. He adds: "It was obviously me and him and an officiant, as they call them, who are legalised to marry people.

"Two of my dearest friends, Jim Silvia, who was Priest's manager forever, and his wife. There were just four of us around the pool, around the cactus, the heavy metal cactus. And it was over in an instant. But it was just a beautiful, simple ceremony."

In the interview, led by Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears, Halford, who has homes in the UK and the US, also talked about life in America as a gay man. He described the US as "still incredibly homophobic".

He also recalled how his sexuality was first revealed to the world in a 1998 interview.

‘Raw Deal’ with Rob Halford (Judas Priest) | Queer the Music with Jake Shears Ep. 18 - Part 2 - YouTube

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.

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