KK Rejoins Priest At Hall Of Fame
Downing returns to the band for the first time in 13 years.
IT WAS something that fans of Judas
Priest thought they would never see again – guitarist KK Downing back on stage with the band. But it happened at the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Since walking away from Priest in 2011, Downing had engaged in a war of words with the group he’d co-founded at the tail end of the 60s.
Inducted by Alice Cooper at a ceremony in Los Angeles, Downing was part of a line-up that included three guitarists (current man Richie Faulkner, Downing, and Glenn Tipton who retired from touring in 2018) and two drummers
(Les Binks, a member from 1977 to 1979, playing in tandem with the current man on the drum stool, Scott Travis). The expanded line-up performed a three-song medley consisting of You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Breaking The Law and Living After Midnight.
During his acceptance speech, Priest frontman Rob Halford said: “I’m the gay guy in the band. That is what heavy metal is all about. We call ourselves the heavy metal community which is all-inclusive. No matter what your sexual identity is, what you look like, the colour of your skin, the faith that you believe or don’t believe in, everybody’s welcome.”
Also at the HOF, Halford fulfilled a lifetime dream when he joined Dolly Parton on a version of her hit Jolene that also featured Pink, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox and the husband-and-wife duo of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.
Benatar and Giraldo performed All Fired Up, Love Is A Battlefield and, of course, Heartbreaker. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler made a surprise appearance with Eminem.
Duran Duran were also inducted at the ceremony, and their absent former guitarist Andy Taylor sent a letter explaining that he is currently battling stage four prostate cancer. It stated: “My current condition is not immediately life threatening [though] there is no cure.”
“I’m so very proud of these four brothers; I’m amazed at their durability, and I’m overjoyed at accepting this award,” Taylor continued. “I often doubted the day would come. I’m sure as hell glad I’m around to see it.”