“Everything blew up. ‘What do you mean you’re leaving?!’ ‘I’m not!’”: Rob Halford insists he didn’t quit Judas Priest in the 1990s

Judas Priest singer Rob Halford has revealed the circumstances surrounding his exit from the band in 1992.

Talking exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, the self-anointed Metal God, who first joined Priest in 1973 and returned to the fold in 2003, insists that he “didn’t quit” the Birmingham heavy metal legends.

Rather, his exit was the unintentional side-effect of him hoping to start other musical projects on the side, which required the activation of a complicated clause in his contract with Priest.

He explains: “I didn’t quit! It was a case of LSD: Lead Singer’s Disease! I was in a great place and having a blast – [1990 album] Painkiller was one of the most successful tours we’d ever had. But we were all very knackered by the end of it and we agreed we’d take a break. So I said, ‘OK guys, I’m gonna go off and do a thing.’”

The singer adds that, even though he didn’t want to leave the band, to launch his other outlets he still needed to file a ‘leaving member’ legal notice to Priest’s record label.

“It was just a clause in the contract, basically,” he says. “But everything blew up. ‘What do you mean you’re leaving?!’ ‘I’m not!’ It got so ridiculously out of control. I think it was a knock-on effect from how knackered we were. We probably should have just walked away and gone, ‘See you in a year.’”

One year after Halford parted ways with Priest, he released War Of Words, the debut album from his thrash metal act Fight. He later started the industrial band 2wo and a solo project called Halford.

Meanwhile, Priest continued with singer Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens in Halford’s stead and released two albums: Jugulator (1997) and Demolition (2001). Owens was amicably dismissed from the band to make way for Halford’s return and the reunited lineup released comeback album Angel Of Retribution in 2005.

Priest are currently touring Europe on their Shield Of Pain run, playing material from Painkiller and new album Invincible Shield. The band will play a co-headline show with Alice Cooper in London on July 25, then tour North America with the shock rocker in the autumn.

The new Hammer is a blockbuster celebration of all things Black Sabbath, following the heavy metal godfathers’ swansong concert Back To The Beginning last weekend. All of the band’s original members are interviewed, as are multiple high-profile fans of the legendary four-piece. Order your copy now and get it delivered to your doorstep.