Earlier this year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced that after more than two decades of being eligible, Judas Priest will be inducted into the organization later this year. According to the Hall Of Fame, Judas Priest members to get inducted include current members Rob Halford (vocals), Ian Hill (bass), Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Scott Travis (drums), along with former members K.K. Downing (guitar), Les Binks (drums) and late drummer Dave Holland.
Notably, Tim “Ripper” Owens, who fronted the band from 1996 to 2003, was left off the induction list. The band will receive the Musical Excellence Award at the Nov. 5, 2022 ceremony in Los Angeles which also will honor Emimem, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics and Carly Simon in the Performers category.
Judas Priest is the second band to receive the award for Musical Excellence following the E Street Band last year. Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads was also a recipient of the Musical Excellence Award. In a new interview with the Arizona Republic, Priest vocalist Rob Halford said he was “p*ssed” that the band wasn’t included in the Performers category. “Why haven’t they given us the same title as all of our friends. Black Sabbath, for example. There’s a different tag, isn’t there? I was p*ssed. I was a bit p*ssed. At the end of the day, does it matter? Some days, I go, ‘No, it doesn’t matter. We’re in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Be grateful. Shut the hell up.’ And then there are other days where I’m like, ‘God damn, why did they give us the Musical Excellence Award?’ Because it sounds very, you know, grandiose. ‘The Musical Excellence Award, reserved for blah, blah, blah.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I want to be with that bunch of musicians over there that have got the performance or whatever it is that they’ve got.'”
Halford continued: “I don’t know why they gave us the Musical Excellence Award. I have no clue. I just felt a little bit like, ‘Well, Sabbath got this. So why can’t we have that?’ Not that I’m jealous of Sabbath. I’m just talking about this tag that they give it. Why do they put these tags on the damn thing? Why don’t they go, ‘Welcome. You’re in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’ and leave it at that.”
“A lot of our fans went, ‘What the hell?’ ‘Oh, you know, they’re a great band. They are an excellent band.’ ‘But why put the Musical Excellence? Why don’t you give them like everybody else has got?’ I know it’s silly, but it’s just frustrating. And on the other side, it’s like, ‘Great. Everybody else got that and we got shafted with this.’ [Laughs] Judas Priest are still the Rodney Dangerfield of heavy metal. They can’t get no respect.”
The induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles. It will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. There will also be a radio simulcast on SiriusXM’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Radio channel 310.
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