Judas Priest's Rob Halford: 'I changed metal's attitude to homosexuality'
Singer says he believes the genre is a lot more tolerant now

December 15, 2010
http://www.nme.com/news/judas-priest/54274



Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has spoken about how he believes his decision to come out publically as gay helped destroy the myth that metal fans and bands could not accept homosexuality.

In an interview with the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, Halford said he believed that him coming out in 1998 challenged the view that heavy metal doesn’t have the capacity to be tolerant.

"There are areas of music that are more compassionate, more tolerant, more open, more accepting and more aware," he said. "What I think I have done is destroy the myth that heavy metal bands don’t have that capacity."

He said he believed most of his fans were supportive of him and that he helped metal fans to confront issues of sexuality. "The vast majority of them did [receive him well after he came out], yes," he said. "Those that didn't were the ones that have difficulty accepting people's sexual orientation in general. I think I made some people confront issues they were not ready to deal with."

Halford also said that, although he believed progress had been made in the metal community, there was still a way to go. "Heavy metal now is a completely different world compared to heavy metal in 1980," he said. "The gay and lesbian world is very different now to what it was in 1980. We have all grown to some extent. There is still a long way to go. There are still a lot of issues that need to be addressed, but I think slowly but surely our lives are getting better."

Ah yes. I remember the story of when David told his brother about Rob well.

I remember hearing the news. I thought about it for a second, shrugged and went, "Well, he's still Rob Halford. It doesn't change the fact he made all those great records." In the end, it's all about the music to me.

What if it was Paul Stanley??? What then??!!

Same thing. Although it would explain his outfits and dance moves in the eighties.

Still think he looks like a chicken crossed with Dr. Frank-N-Furter in that outfit.

It got a shrug out of me. I was annoyed at his Manson wannabe phase when he left priest though. I liked the Movie they made from it. Marky Mark as Ripper Owens!

Does he have a friend to change the incredibly homophobic hip-hop community?

Halford came out AFTER Judas Priest had already had its heyday, if I recall correctly. Not that it still didn't take guts for Halford to come out, but it would have been more telling had he done it while Judas Priest was still cranking out the hits.

True James, but the late 70's/early 80's weren't exactly the halcyon days for the gay community

I remember hearing the news, thought back to videos for "Turbo Lover" and "Another Thing Comin'" and shrugged. It was news? To anybody?

That said, It was probably pretty scary for Rob to do, and I applaud his courage.

Oh, I know, but you look at those that came out, Ricky Martin, Elton, Melissa Etheridge, they all did so well after they had seen their best charting days. Would be nice to see someone just come out right from the start. Rufus Wainwright is the only one who comes to mind.

I don't think a lot of younger artists feel the need to make the announcement because to them, it's not a big deal. Not like it would've been for guys like Halford or Freddie Mercury or even Bob Mould. Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter and others all have gay members who are out. Jonsi from Sigur Ros is out. Lady Gaga has been out about her bi-sexuality from the start. It comes up in interviews or the music but it's just a very matter of fact thing for them, which is very much a generational thing.

But I don't doubt that some gay artists really feel the need to stay closeted. There is still a massive amount of homophobia in all industries and sometimes risking something you've worked hard for all your life is frightening. And a glance at a newspaper these days will show you that times are not exactly great for young gay kids out there, or adults for that matter. So the fear of backlash is very much based in reality. Of course, that just makes the need for people to be out even more important.

I do feel that it's necessary for people to be out, no matter what the occupation, but sometimes that's just not workable. Coming out is very empowering. It frees you. And I wish I had a Lady Gaga or a Rufus or Deerhunter when I was a kid, it would've made things a lot easier.

I think these guys would disagree:

Erasure? Pet Shop Boys? George Michael? Elton John?

Erasure (only Andy is gay) were a dance band who intially gained popularity in gay clubs and the alternative scene, an extremely tolerant fan base.
Pet Shop Boys: came out in the mid-90s, at least one of them did; well after their biggest hits.
George Michael: ditto (though there really wasn't ever any doubt, was there?)
Elton: came out in the 80s.

I thought Elton came out in the 70's and then married (and divorced) a woman in the 80's.

Johnny Mathis tried to come out in the 1980's, then apparently retracted his disclosure for another couple of decades after getting death threats.

You're right, he came out in '76. I was thinking he didn't come out until after he divorced Renate Blauel. But it was in a Rolling Stone interview in the 70s, and he claimed to be bisexual. In that case, Elton coming out when he did kind of enforces the point that it could hurt your career. He didn't have another big hit for several years, and his best work was behind him in any case (IMO).

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the editors of Tiger Beat magazine pretty much dropped all of their Elton coverage after his mid-70's disclosure.

I think a similar thing happened with David Bowie. I don't know if he proclaimed himself bisexual way back when in an effort to seem edgy (much like the Stones posing in drag for the "Have You Seen Your Mother..." picture sleeve), but he seems to have completely backed away from it. I've always gotten the impression that people in the UK have a different attitude towards so-called "bisexuality" than do Americans--I think it has something to do with the UK's segregated (by gender) educational system, but that's just a guess. Mick Jagger is certainly a guy in touch with his feminine side, but he'll probably still be fathering children when he's in his eighties.

Adam Lambert

I think that today's attitudes toward homosexuality are very different than they were in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s, though it was improving by then obviously. Lambert benefits from society's changing viewpoints. I'm assuming he was ever successful after American Idol.