In a new chat with Matt Pinfield of 95.5 KLOS’s ‘New & Approved’ show, Ian Hill shared why Rob Halford is the ultimate Judas Priest frontman.
“Ken [ex-Judas Priest guitarist Kenneth ‘K.K.’ Downing] and myself, we just thought we’d try him out,” the bassist replied when asked how he felt when he first heard Halford sing in 1973 before he joined the band as Al Atkins’ replacement. “As soon as we did, we knew that he was something special. He’s got a tremendous range — I think he’s three octaves, something like that, he’s got a range, which was unbelievable at the time.”
He continued, “And, of course, he was from the same part of the world as we were, so he’s got that same grittiness, that same sort of outlook as the rest of us had had. And he was into the similar bands that we were — he was also a [Jimi] Hendrix fan, Cream, he was into all of that kind of stuff; [David] Bowie, of course. And he fit right in.”
“And he’s a great bloke as well. I mean, he’s so easy to get along with. And that was it. And then Glenn [Tipton, Priest guitarist] comes along and you form a friendship. I mean, it’s formed when you’re doing things like you go to Norway in the van in February, and you’re sleeping in the back of the van,” Hill recalled.
The rocker also noted, “You put your gear in the van and put the mattresses on the top, you do the show and then sleep in the car park in freezing cold weather. That’s what you did. And you form a bond through doing things like that. And we’ll always be great friends — we always will, till our dying day. Regardless of if we’re on different sides of an ocean, we’re still tremendous friends and we always will be.”
In a 2020 interview with WeAreIowa.com, Halford shared how he joined Judas Priest in 1973. His sister, Sue, who was dating Ian Hill at the time, mentioned to him that the band was looking for a new singer. After hearing this, Ian suggested Rob audition for the band.
