Out Spotlight VII

When we announced that January was going to be Queer Musical Artist month at OMG and Winterbird mentioned Rob Halford, I knew I had to do an Out Spotlight on him. Before Halford, if you had asked someone if a heavy metal singer could be openly gay, the answer would have been a resounding, "NO!" But Halford, the lead singer for the heavy metal band Judas Priest, came out in 1998 in an interview with MTV. Apparently his sexuality was somewhat of an open secret among fans and the heavy metal press. The response from the heavy metal community has been fairly supportive.

Halford is a pretty tough guy. At one concert, Halford rode onto the stage on a motorcycle and ran into a drum riser. He fell off the bike, broke his nose, and lost consciousness. When he came to, he performed the entire show! Halford spent 20 years with Judas Priest, and then formed the band Fight with his old drummer. Recently, Halford has been performing with the band Halford. He has also performed 3 shows as the lead singer for Black Sabbath. Halford is known as "Metal God" because of his legendary influence on metal.

Check out his website at http://www.robhalford.com/new/.












I just love this picture! :)