Happy 63rd birthday, Rob Halford

rob_halford

The legendary Judas Priest frontman (born 1951) is 63 years old today, August 25, 2014. Introduced to Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill by his sister, Halford became the vocalist for the group and quickly defined his iconic style of singing and found a way to adapt it to the new style.

With Stained Class, Halford adopted what became his trademark visual imagery, which is the leather and studs clothing that spread throughout metal after that time. He later expanded this imagery to include military gear, motorcycles, whips and chains.

Judas Priest defined much of 1970s heavy metal by taking its NWOBHM sound and adding the album-oriented stadium rock feel, giving the music greater accessibility, but simultaneously focusing on strong lead guitar and use of multiple riffs to create a puzzle-piece feel.

Without Halford, Priest might have accomplished this role but not in such an iconic sense or perhaps with such amazingly flexible vocals. Halford joins Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy Osbourne and Tom Arya among others in the category of legendary heavy metal vocalists. Happy Birthday!

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7 thoughts on “Happy 63rd birthday, Rob Halford”

  1. tiny midget says:

    imagine if he had introduced the flip flops and shorts and monocycle image …

  2. joey says:

    You mean happy 63rd birthday?

    1. Luis MorĂ¡n says:

      Indeed, 63. At any rate, it brings a question to mind that we should ask ourselves: Where will I be and what will I be doing at that age and will it be meaningful?

  3. trystero says:

    Those forsaken… REEEEAWWWWAAAKKKEEEEENNN… with.. my.. Battle Cry!!!

    Saved that album this little gay midget did ^_^

    Never thought it would be Rob saving a Priest album, but there you have it! It really was a fortunate conjunction, Tipton, Downing and him. The planets aligned.

    1. Poofledoodle says:

      Midget? 5’11” is average male height by practically any standard.

      1. trystero says:

        Rob actually seems to have lost some height in his old age, but my bad, I thought he was 2 inches shorter than he actually is.

        That big heard doesnt help at all!

        1. tiny midget says:

          yeah i get that a lot too. although most of the time im actually 2inches shorter than youd think.
          however my third leg would surprise you, if u know what i mean…

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