Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has voiced his love for Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan and other pop sensations.
The 73-year-old reveals his current pop playlist in a new interview with The Houston Chronicle, and hails the likes of Swift, Lady Gaga and Madonna for their longevity, saying they transcend mainstream trends.
“Chappell [Roan] is amazing,” Halford declares. “I turned on to Gaga instantly. Her talent is just extraordinary. And she says she’s a huge fan of Chappell. The way that the torch is passed from performer to performer, artist to artist, it’s a beautiful thing to do.”
The singer continues: “What’s remarkable about people like Gaga or Taylor Swift is their longevity. They’re called pop artists. Is that the right word to call them? I don’t know.”
He contrasts those artists’ lengthy careers with a genre that he calls “almost dispensable”, because of how quickly many hits come and go.
“It’s like catching fireflies,” he elaborates. “Pop songs can be gigantic, and then you’ll never hear them again. But then you’ll get a Madonna or a Cher or a Gaga, or hopefully Chappell or a Taylor Swift. The way they craft their music, it becomes immortal.”
Offering an example of that longevity, Halford adds, “I’ll still be banging my head to [Lady Gaga anthem] Paparazzi on my deathbed.”
He then finishes by questioning the very notion of genre boundaries in music. “I don’t believe in barriers. I don’t believe in walls. I don’t believe in censorship. I think that all music is a feast. All of it touches me in various ways. And I translate all of that into my own work.”
In 2020, Halford told People that he would love for Judas Priest to collaborate with Lady Gaga one day. “I would definitely do Born This Way because that's our anthem,” he said, referring to the LGBTQ+ community. “As far as Priest songs go, I think I’d like to do Breaking The Law with her because it talks about the frustration that we go through, particularly as young people.”
Stranger things have happened, given Gaga’s noted penchant for metal and that time she shared the stage with Metallica at the Grammy Awards.
Judas Priest released their new album, Invincible Shield, to critical acclaim earlier this year. The band are nearing the end of their US tour to promote the record and will play in Japan in December. See dates and details via their website.
