| Biography | Judas Priest are a British heavy metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1969. Known for twin lead guitars, a wide operatic vocal style, and for introducing the S&M leather-and-studs look into heavy metal, they have sold over 50 million albums worldwide.
After an early career as a secondary act dogged by unsympathetic producers and line-up changes, the band found considerable commercial success in the 1980s. In 1989, they were named as defendants in an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging that subliminal messages on their albums had caused the suicide attempts of two young men.
The band's membership has seen much turnover, including a revolving cast of drummers in the 1970s, and the temporary departure of singer Rob Halford in the early 1990s. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band's best-selling album is 1982's Screaming for Vengeance featuring their most commercially successful line-up, Rob Halford (lead vocals), K. K. Downing (guitar), Glenn Tipton (guitar), Ian Hill (bass), and Dave Holland (drums). The band has been working on a new album, expected to be released sometime in 2013.
Heavily referenced as a major influence on multiple genres of metal, including but not limited to power metal and thrash metal, the band is widely lauded as the "metal gods". Their influence, while mainly Rob Halford's operatic vocal style and the twin guitar sound of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, is seen in countless bands. Their image of leather, spikes, and other taboo articles of clothing were widely influential during the glam metal era of the 1980s. Their 1980 album, British Steel, has been referred to as the "record that, more than any other, codified what we mean by "heavy metal". Despite a decline in exposure during the mid-1990s, the band has once again seen a major resurgence, including worldwide tours, being inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2005, receiving a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2010, and their songs featuring in major video games such as Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series. |