Judas Priest Singer Rob Halford Says Metal World Helped Him Through Terrible Battles of Loneliness

Judas Priest singer Rob Halford is thankful to the metal community. He said that his fans helped him through a period where he felt alone.

In an interview with Global News via Blabbermouth, Halford said he used to live a double life as a closeted gay man. The singer came out in the 1990s. During this period, Halford struggled with his mental health, having feelings of loneliness.

“It’s broad based,” he said. “It’s not just in music — it’s everywhere — it’s in every walk of life. When I was a younger person particularly, but through the early metal years, yeah, there was a there was a lot of homophobia and pushback and bigotry, so much so that I really had to hide myself, I had to hide my identity within the band. The whole point of getting from that place of having to hide to now being able to step out and be who you are, particularly in the metal scene, because the metal community loves and takes care of our own, that’s the advantage.”

“I used to be terribly lonely because of having to live a double life,” he continued. “So this whole business of being embraced and feeling not alone and feeling part of a group of people that are all feeling the same way is really, again, special and unique to the metal world.”

Judas Priest Singer Thanked Glam Rock

Halford thanked the glam rock of the 1980s as a shift in acceptance. He always found the music and the attire strange during the decade, but he appreciated that it helped move the needle. For what it’s worth, K.K. Downing said the band always knew Halford was gay.

“We always knew Rob was gay,” Downing said. “Because the thing is back in the days — in the ’60s and particularly early ’70s, when everything was still kind of behind closed doors and stuff like that — people felt a bit more comfortable around us because we would hang around in groups and gangs and we would always know that that guy is different to us and that girl is different.”

However, it ultimately didn’t matter to the band. Instead, Downing pointed to Halford’s qualities as a leader in the band.

“The main thing is… Obviously, to me, Rob being gay, apart from [having] a great voice, I thought Rob was gonna stay in the band forever, and he’s obviously gonna be theatrical, he’s gonna be obviously articulate with words — and he was; he was all of that,” Downing said. “Sensitivities and all of that, and the showmanship — so all of these ingredients [were] great attributes to have as a frontman. And I proved to be right.”

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]