Why the only openly gay heavy metal superstar, Judas Prit's Rob Halford, hid his sexualy

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'We always knew Rob was gay,' K.K. Downg said.

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WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY

Judas Prit's Rob Halford has marked Pri month by reflectg on the moment he me out as gay on televisn. * judas priest singer gay *

Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford has always lived a loud and proud heavy metal life, but only 1998 durg an MTV terview did he bee the first metal in to announce he is gay. “I thk that every gay person has a bigger story to tell than jt, 'Hello, I'm out, 's me, '” Halford, who turned 69 last month, told me a phone terview ahead of the book’s publitn on Tuday.

He wanted to sce Iron Main sger Pl Di’Anno, and he sported bandanas onstage that were a lor-d ve to gay amid the lorful stori are darker moments, both terms of dtry algs and pecially keepg himself closeted for so long. Halford was born 1951, and homosexualy was illegal the U.

While a few mastream metal ontwomen like Otep and Lzzy Hale have been open recent years about beg gay or bisexual, Halford remas the only major gay male metal fans are often attracted to the aggrsive and theraptic nature of the genre — ’s a great way to let out pent-up tratn and feel empowered — and many skew more to the right than some of their ins. Judas Prit‘s Rob Halford has marked Pri month by reflectg on the moment he me out as gay on televisn. “And I said somethg to the effect of, ‘Well, speakg as a gay man, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

ROB HALFORD LOOKS BACK ON G OUT AS GAY ON MTV: “IT’S A GLOR MOMENT”

In celebratn of Pri Month, JUDAS PRIEST sger Rob Halford nnected wh Apple Mic's Hattie Colls to talk about beg a young gay mician the late 1970s. Rob shared the difficulty of social prsur holdg him back om g out, wrg "Raw Deal" spired by the ia of Fire Islan... * judas priest singer gay *

It was one of those gay sharp tak, ‘Oh my God, he’s e out.

JUDAS PRIEST'S ROB HALFORD REFLECTS ON COMG OUT AS GAY ON MTV: 'IT WAS VERY UNPLANNED'

I thk if I’d…I still say today, if I’d have really thought this through, like today’s the day I’m gog to e out, maybe I even wouldn’t… maybe I may not have e out per se, bee ’s still a big moment for so many of , wh a close iend, wh someone at school, wh Mum and Dad, wh whomever, to actually say, ‘Hey, I’m a gay guy or I’m a gay girl. “So wow, was jt this enormo feelg of eedom, and the prsure was gone, and there’s no more talkg behd your back bee you have all this ammunn of power as a gay person now, as an out gay person.

“Mentally, on top of beg the gay man the closet, I had all the extra piec piled onto my life at that time. Unlike his famo peers, Halford was navigatg heavy metal’s bchero, dg-fueled 1980s heyday and the heights of his own band’s stratospheric populary as a closeted gay man who was petrified about the potential nsequenc of revealg his te self. “What if got out that I was gay, fans didn’t want anythg to do wh a band onted by a queer, and killed Judas Prit stone ad?

JUDAS PRIEST'S ROB HALFORD ON HIS LIFE AS GAY MAN: 'IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, PEOPLE LIKE ME GET THROWN OFF BUILDGS'

” He soon had to open a new office Arizona to handle all of the grateful letters om queer fans thankg him for givg them the strength to live their own Halford CostelloNow, after livg the public’s electric eye for most of his life, heavy metal’s most famo tattooed leather daddy (who’s actually been as good as hched for 30 years and scrib his own sex life as “vanilla”) proudly refers to himself as “the stately homo of heavy metal.

In celebratn of Pri Month, JUDAS PRIEST sger Rob Halford nnected wh Apple Mic's Hattie Colls to talk about beg a young gay mician the late 1970s. Speakg about what was like to bee the first metal in to announce he is gay 1998 durg an MTV terview, spe knowg about his sexualy sce he was 10, Halford said: "It was betiful.

And I said somethg to the effect of, 'Well, speakg as a gay man… blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was one of those gay sharp tak of breath, 'Oh my God! I thk if I'd… I still say today, if I'd have really thought this through, like today's the day I'm gog to e out, maybe I even wouldn't… maybe I may not have e out per se, bee 's still a big moment for so many of , wh a close iend, wh someone at school, wh Mum and Dad, wh whomever, to actually say, 'Hey, I'm a gay guy or I'm a gay girl.

JUDAS PRIT ALWAYS KNEW ROB HALFORD WAS GAY, EX-MEMBER SPILLS

"So wow, was jt this enormo feelg of eedom, and the prsure was gone, and there's no more talkg behd your back bee you have all this ammunn of power as a gay person now, as an out gay person. 3 rad statn about his recently released tobgraphy, "Confs", which he scribed tail how was advised to be discreet about his homosexualy given the macho hetero nature of the metal world, even though his PRIEST bandmat and their management knew he was gay and were acceptg. Durg an Augt 15 appearance on Fox Sports 910 AM's "The Freaks Wh Kenny And Crash" rad show Phoenix, Arizona, JUDAS PRIEST sger Rob Halford spoke about the discrimatn that the LGBT muny still fac spe the broad social acceptance of homosexualy and the legaly of same-sex marriage some parts of the world.

Halford, who revealed he was gay nearly twenty years ago, said (see vio below): "I jt get so trated and I get angry that here we are 2017… I mean, growg up as a kid and sudnly realizg about my preferenc… Well, 's not really a preference — 's who you are.

JUDAS PRIEST'S IAN HILL: 'WE KNEW' ROB HALFORD WAS GAY BEFORE HE PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED IT

So the jtic that are put agast gay people, much like the jtic agast people of lor, or people that have tremendo difficulti wh acceptg religns…"Halford add: "It's a crazy world, isn't ? And [ 1998] I was dog an terview wh MTV and talkg about mic and blah blah blah, and very off the cuff, I said, 'Speakg as a gay man metal…', blah blah blah. "The thg about gay people is that until we e out of the closet, we're always protectg other people: 'I n't do this, bee 's gonna hurt so-and-so, '" he ntued.

The gay, leather-lovg sger reveals his “totally ndid” memoir — “Confs: The Autobgraphy, ” out Tuday — that California ps vered up for his long-ago arrt for “public cency” at a Venice Beach rtroom. Stupid, and ashamed, but also angry — that, this late the century, gay men still had to live fear like this, ” ntu Halford, who publicly me out on MTV 1998 and rned wh the band 2003. Rob Halford's Judas Prit bandmat knew the ontman was gay long before he me out 1998, but they kept his secret to protect the band's image.

"We always knew Rob was gay, " Downg said on a recent appearance on the "No F**k' Regrets Wh Robb Flynn" podst.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* JUDAS PRIEST SINGER GAY

JUDAS PRIEST's IAN HILL: 'We Knew' ROB HALFORD Was Gay Before He Publicly Acknowledged It.

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