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Rob Halford has always determined himself to defy convention. Think of what the heavy metal genre means to you, and the pillars upon which it rests itself, and you will often find Halford turning those pillars upside down.
Though bondage and leather was often a part of his costuming, Halford wouldn’t be bound to keeping his ideals within the confines of his performances. He would often challenge the preconception of heavy metal to ensure it always kept moving forward.
But like any true great, Halford doesn’t dare to think of himself as an entirely unique proposition. He understands that to get anywhere in music, to move forward and into the future, you must pay respect to the past.
It might have been popularised in the 1980s, but Halford has always maintained that it was the rebellious nature of the 1950s and ’60s that sowed the seeds of the genre. A devoted fan of The Beatles, Halford confessed that his career peak came when he recorded British Steel at John Lennon’s former mansion.
Halford opened up about feeling a connection to The Beatles and his music since early childhood, but his love for the band doesn’t stop at that. While Judas Priest’s music is vastly different in every way from what the Fab Four were doing, Halford credits them with setting the stage for metal to grow.
When asked if he thought songs like ‘Helter Skelter’, ‘Revolution’, and ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ marked the beginning of heavy metal, he replied, “There’s no way of dismissing that possibility. They were turning things up, weren’t they? They were turning up the amps, especially on ‘Helter Skelter.’ Incredibly strong.”
He’s certainly not the only one who thinks so. In fact, ‘Helter Skelter’ was retrospectively considered by many as the first heavy metal song ever written. It had been Paul McCartney’s way of competing with The Who after Peter Townshend described their song ‘I Can See for Miles’ as the “loudest, rawest rock song ever”. The Beatles inadvertently helped create a new music genre with their healthy competitiveness. But Halford doesn’t stop at the Fab Four.
Like the metal man, The Beatles understood that music is a long lineage and that without the members of its history, it has no future. So, as they had done, Halford also paid tribute to the rockers of the 1950s who laid the foundations for the Liverpudlians to build their everlasting legacy.
“I mean, talk about their early interviews, where they say they listened to all the Little Richard records and Jerry Lee Lewis and all these people,” the singer explains. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they also picked up some vibes from some of those early heavy, electric sounds that were happening in the ’60s.”
Judas Priest’s music should not, at first listen, have anything to do with the influences that Rob Halford holds so close to his heart. But without them, there would be no band, and maybe no heavy metal at all.
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