In a new interview with Greg Gutfeld of Fox News Radio's "The One" podcast, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was asked if he thinks rock artists today are more reticent about taking risks than they used to be several decades ago. He responded (hear audio below): "For me, it does seem as though a lot of the music has gotten safer but the world has gotten so much scarier, whereas back a few decades — back even maybe less than a decade — it was the flipside. There was a lot of controversial artists, there was a lot of controversy in the music. But that seems to have dissipated now. It's almost as though we've been shocked and stunned into kind of an emotionless state to some extent, which is a real shame, because music plays on your hearts, it plays on your emotions. "If you wanna find some dangerous music, sometimes with dangerous messages, you can find it in different genres of heavy metal," he continued. "The most beautiful thing about heavy metal music, like most music, is that it's uplifting — it pulls you through things, as it's pulling us through right now with this pandemic. We're using music to help us heal and to help us get through whatever difficulties there may be in life." Rob is continuing to promote his recently released autobiography, "Confess". In the book, Halford discusses in detail what it was like becoming the first metal icon to announce he is gay in 1998 during an MTV interview, despite knowing about his sexuality since he was 10. Although his bandmates and their management knew he was gay and were accepting, he was advised to be discreet given the macho hetero nature of the metal world. He also opens up about surviving sexual abuse, as well as his struggles with depression, substance abuse, sobriety, and the suicide of one of his former partners. He also talks about how his own suicide attempt in 1986 led him to the rehab program that saved his life. "Confess" arrived on September 29 via Hachette Books. It was written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx. In the book, Halford revealed that he knew he was gay during a time when gay men were "full-on persecuted" in his native United Kingdom. He came out to his parents three years later. In September, JUDAS PRIEST and Rufus Publications announced the publication of the first-ever official JUDAS PRIEST book documenting the band's extensive history over the last 50 years. Titled "Judas Priest - 50 Heavy Metal Years", the book has been put together by David Silver, Ross Halfin and Jayne Andrews. Prior to being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, JUDAS PRIEST's spring/summer 2020 European tour was scheduled to kick off on May 30 in Helsinki, Finland and conclude on July 28 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The band was also slated to headline the U.K.'s Bloodstock Open Air festival on August 9 at Catton Park, Derbyshire. The U.S. leg of PRIEST's "50 Heavy Metal Years" tour was due to launch September 9 in Oxon Hill, Maryland and wrap up on October 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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