"The original fans are all our age, and they're all sort of expiring." Judas Priest's Ian Hill on the importance of appealing to a younger audience

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill says the band need to remain relevant – because their OG fans won't be around forever

Richie Faulkner, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and Ian Hill perform in concert with Judas Priest during their "50 Heavy Metal Years" tour at HEB Center on March 20, 2022 in Cedar Park, Texas.
(Image credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images)

Judas Priest bass player Ian Hill says it's important to appeal to a new, younger audience – because their original fans are "expiring".

Hill, 72, says he loves to see young fans at Priest shows and adds, with a chuckle, that the original fans are getting older along with the band and won't be around forever.

He tells The Pick: "You can sort of make that connection with the younger fans, which is important. The original fans are all our age, and they're all sort of expiring.

"But we've been able to make that connection with the younger people. And you look down from stage, and you see people in their late teens, early 20s, and they're loving it.

"It's not just the new stuff that they're loving. They're singing along to the older stuff. So you've got them interested in that and they've gone back into the heritage of the band and started to look at some of the earlier material.

"And it's great news. Not just for us, but it's great news for metal in general, that these people are still getting interested in it."

He adds: "It's something we always try and do, is try and take a step forward with each album. You're learning stuff all the time, and whatever we learn, we try and put it into the next project.

"And we've done that right from the very start, right from way back in early 70s. And it's important that you do it, because it keeps you modern and it keeps you relevant."

Priest released their 19th album, Invincible Shield, in 2024.

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Stef Lach

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.