In an interview with Metal Pilgrim, Devin Townsend confirmed that he was once invited to audition for Judas Priest but explained why he turned down the offer.
“I got a mail with the Judas Priest font on it saying ‘We would like you to audition for the band if you’re interested.’ How flattering that was, I can’t even tell you,” he recalled the offer. However, the rocker had to reject the offer for one reason. “But because of my love for the band, I said no. Because as a fan, I didn’t want to see me in Judas Priest. That’s really what it came down to.”
Townsend was asked to audition for the band when they were looking for a new vocalist to fill the shoes of Rob Halford in the early 1990s. However, it appears that he wasn’t the only rocker asked for the opportunity to sing in Judas Priest.
“Technically, yes, that happened, but it wasn’t like they were knocking down my door,” Townsend said of the Judas Priest offer in an interview with The SDR Show last year. “Basically, they threw out a blanket thing to a bunch of singers — Warrel [Dane] from Nevermore, myself, a couple of other people. It [came in the form of] a letter with the [Judas Priest logo].”
“But I also remember thinking that singing was this thing that happened to me because of my involvement with Steve [Vai], because I never really set out to be a singer. I learned to sing because I was a guitar player. Most of the singers I auditioned, I didn’t relate to,” he continued. “But, as a result of that, the technique that I had was so shoddy, that had I gotten to a situation with that level of expectation, to sing like Rob Halford… dude, I’d be crucified.”
Townsend has recently released his new solo album, ‘PowerNerd,’ and he wrote the entire album in just 11 days.
