Judas Priest is back on tour, complete with singer Halford

For more than a decade, the rumors were constant — that Rob Halford, the singer whose name was synonymous with both heavy metal and the band Judas Priest, was going to reunite with his old bandmates.

But, according to guitarist K.K. Downing, a founding member of Judas Priest, the rumors simply weren't true. "Rob had been out of the band for 13, 14 years," Downing said by phone from Ottawa, speaking in his polite, thick English accent. "I guess we were all thinking it was never going to happen."

Then the unexpected did happen.

Judas Priest began working with its record label to release a box set — a project that would naturally require collaborating with Halford.

So Downing, guitarist Glenn Tipton, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis all got together in England at Halford's house, Downing said. "We were going through the box set and one thing led to another, really. Rob said he was complete of all his commitments. We kind of talked about the feasibility of doing a tour and album, and it came together in one day."

"Everything just came about at the right time. One minute the rumors (of reuniting) weren't true. People suspected us of covering things up. Then, suddenly, the rumors were still out there, but then they were true.

"It was kind of a weird situation."

Tim "Ripper" Owens, who fronted a Judas Priest tribute band before being recruited to sing for the real Priest in 1996, was happy to step aside and let the original Metal God re-establish his place in the group. "It's fair to say the voice of the band was always Halford," Downing said.

But he adds that the band was fully prepared at one point to continue its career with Owens. "It's funny how you accept things. It's like a death; at some point you have to accept it and go forward. You do not have a choice. It's what we had to do."

Next Wednesday will be Utah's first chance to see the reunited line-up, and it will mark the first show with Halford fronting the band in the Beehive State since 1988.

Not only is Judas Priest back on tour, but it also recently released its 16th studio album, "Angel of Retribution."

"When we were putting it together, we were just trying to make a record we thought was good. We didn't want to disappoint anybody. People wanted an album they could recognize as a Judas Priest album with Rob Halford. There was a lot of pressure on the band, really. We knew we had to come up with something pretty good."