Rob Halford Open to K.K. Downing Playing With Judas Priest

Judas Priest are set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, receiving the Musical Excellence Award. The band is one of two recipients of the award, the other is Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

One of the founding members of Judas Priest, K.K. Downing recently said in an interview that he was unsure if or how he’ll be participating in the induction, and we wonder if this changes his mind. Lead singer Rob Halford joined the band in 1973 and spoke up about performing with his former bandmates at the Rock Hall induction ceremony.

Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Scott Travis, Downing, Binks and the late Dave Holland are all going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 5. The vocalist stated that he thinks anyone who’s been attached and related to Priest has a role to play, and thinks the Rock Hall made the right call when it comes to the band’s inductees. He also added that he’s open to performing with Downing and ex-drummer Les Binks in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

“Absolutely,” the frontman affirmed. “As I said before, you’ve got to push aside anything that gets in the way. You’ve got to remove the emotional clutter and just reference this great celebration.”

Halford went onto to say how important the ceremony is, and if he didn’t play it, “a couple of years later you’ll go, ‘What the hell? Why didn’t we do that?’ It’s a few hours but those few hours last forever.” He further stressed that it’s not about “all this drama. The music matters. It’s all about the music.”

Downing left Judas Priest in 2011, airing his grievances with the band and management in his biography Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest, as well as in the press.