Babymetal perform with Judas Priest's Rob Halford

A still from the video of Babymetal and Rob Halford's performance at the Alternative Press Music awards — Rob Halford onstage with Babymetal

Babymetal performed live with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford at the 2016 Alternative Press Awards.

The ceremony was held at the Columbus’ Schottenstein Center in Ohio on Monday night. The video, which shows Babymetal performing Karate before being joined by Halford for Judas Priest tracks Painkiller and Breaking The Law, can be viewed below.

Babymetal’s Su-Metal says: “Honestly, I am still at a loss of what to feel. But to be able to perform together with the Metal God, I am in disbelief.”

Halford adds: “It’s really cool to hear and watch such a strong young Japanese metal band make solid growth in the world with such unique conviction and invite me to headbang along with them for this special appearance. Further proof of the continuing power exchange from the roots of metal into the future metalsphere.”

Babymetal have a number of festival appearances and headline shows scheduled in Japan over the coming months.

Halford said last month that a Rock Hall induction for Judas Priest would be “a real treat.”

Babymetal tour dates 2016

Jul 24: Fuji Rock Festival, Japan
Aug 08: Hitachi Rock In Japan Festival, Japan
Aug 12: Ishikari-Wan Rising Sun Rock Festival, Japan
Aug 21: Maishima Summer Sonic Osaka, Japan
Sep 19: Tokyo Dome, Japan
Sep 20: Tokyo Dome, Japan

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.