Judas Priest Bio

Judas priest was formed in Birmingham, England in 1970. After several changes the most famous lineup consists of K.K Downing {Guitar}, Glen Tipton {Guitar}, Ian Hill {Bass}, Scott Travis {Drums} and Rob Halford {Vocals}. The group went through drummers before getting Scott Travis. They released their first album {Rocka Rolla}} on an independant U.K. label. The album was given almost no attention but after the band played an impressive performance at the Reading Festival the band began to get some attention. Later that same yea they released their sophmore record "Sad Wings Of Destiny" . The band was on the verge of death , despite some positive reviews the record sales were disappointing. All hope was lost until the band recieved an international record deal with CBS . "Sin After Sin" was their first major release and after more positive reviews the band left for their first ever American tour. They returned to englad and recorded "Stained Class" which helped establish them as big players in the growing metal scene. "Stained Class" and the bands next effort "Hellbent For Leather" began the the new british heavy metal movement. After making their album "Killing Machine in the U.K." they made their even more successful album "British Steel" which hit the british charts at number 3 and launched 2 hits "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight". At this point Judas Priest was well known around the world as a concert attraction and a best selling artist after recording "Point of Entry". But it was their album "Screaming for Vengeance" that marked the high point in their career with their hit single "You've Got Another Thing Comin". But at this point Priest's style of metal wasn't listened to that much and thrash and speed metal like metallica and motorhead were popular amung hardcore rock fans. Priest's fans slowly drifted away and went towards the faster and heavier band's while Priest released their very different style album "Turbo" yet still sold over a million records. Then their following album "Priest...Live!" was their only album since "Stained Class" to not go gold. But the next album "Ram it Down" brought them back to gold status with their raw metal energy. But it didn't make much of an impact on rock fans outside of Priest's hardcore fan base and their release of "Painkiller" shortly after followed the same fate as Ram it Down and just hit the hardcore priest fans. But it didn't hold them back from being one of the best concert acts. At this time Rob Halford had started his own band "Fight" and shortly after left Priest. After Glenn Tipton finished his solo record they rebounded with a new singer from a Judas Priest tribute band named Tim Owens. They spent the next year recording "Jugulator". During that time Rob Halford quit Fight and began another project "Two" with another label. After forming "Halford" which made similiar music to Judas Priest , Rob Halford eventually rejoined Judas Priest. They co-headlined Ozzfest and realeased a new studio album "Angel of Retribution". They are currently touring the world.