In honor of Pride month, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford has opened up about his experience coming out as gay in a compelling interview with Edmonton Journal.
In the interview, Halford was asked whether he was worried that coming out as gay in the 90s would cause him to lose fans. Although the majority of his fans claimed they had known for over a decade, Halford has admitted that coming out was a real struggle.
“I was surrounded by homophobia, which still exists today,” Halford explained. “There are places I can’t go back to because I’ll be stoned to death. As far as that whole business, I discovered when I did come out that I was in this trap gay people find themselves living in that you’re living your life for everyone else, but not yourself. During the ’70s and ’80s it was incredibly difficult.”
He continued: “I love Priest more than anything, so while always in my mind — I have to be careful how I say this — it’s not important to the music. Though I will say, a straight man can’t do my job [laughs]. That’s the way I view it.
“Freddie [Mercury] said it wasn’t important, but if Freddie hadn’t have been gay, Queen would’ve been a totally different band. But that’s a really important part of my life that I have to get down on paper at some point.”
Judas Priest are on tour now.
