Rob Halford – New Judas Priest Album ‘Close’ to Finish

While Judas Priest will be going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, their next studio album won’t come until after that special night. But, as revealed by Rob Halford in a recent chat with New York’s Q104.3 host Jonathan Clarke (as seen below), “it is close.”

Judas Priest have been working toward their follow-up to 2018’s Firepower album when not on the road for their 50th anniversary touring, and during the discussion the singer explained that “in essence, it’s done, which is a great feeling.”

Sharing the album’s current state, Halford commented, “It is close, yeah. All the writing’s done; the bulk of the recording is done. I’ve still gotta put my vocal tracks down. So, in essence, it’s done, which is a great feeling, because that really points us to the metal future. Everything that we’ve done in Priest over the last 50-odd years has been driven by the latest music that we’re making. So this is no exception.”

Obviously there is plenty of touring on the horizon, but Halford also revealed a loose plan for finalizing the record and getting it ready for release.

“We’ll finish this 50th-anniversary celebration down in São Paulo, Brazil on December the 18th, and that’ll be this year done,” he explained. “And then next year we’re kicking off with our good friend Ozzy [Osbourne] in the U.K.; we’ll do some shows with him, and [in the rest of] Europe, and then a few other bits and pieces we’ve got going over in Europe. And then we stop. And then we plan the next release sequence for the next Priest album.”

As for their immediate plans, the group will officially go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 5, being inducted with the Metal Excellence honor. Over the past month, various members have talked about performing at the ceremony, with the group choosing to do a medley of songs with their allotted time.

Former drummer Les Binks confirmed during a recent interview that he and fellow former guitarist K.K. Downing will be joining the current lineup of the band, including guitarist Richie Faulkner who is not being inducted, for the performance. Late drummer Dave Holland is also being inducted with the band as well.

In a separate interview, bassist Ian Hill told Rock 100.5 The KATT’s Cameron Buchholtz that he felt that it was a shame that Faulkner as well as former vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens weren’t going in as well, but that’s part of the Rock Hall committee’s decision making. it’s got nothing to do with us. If it was up to us, we probably would have inducted [Richie and] Ripper. But it’s not up to us. We had no say, really. Pity, but it is what it is.”

The Rock Hall induction will take place Nov. 5 in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater.

Judas Priest’s Rob Halford Speaks to New York’s Q104.3 Host Jonathan Clarke