Judas Priest’s Rob Halford announces new Christmas album

Rob Halford

Rob Halford has revealed he’ll release a Christmas album later this year.

It’s titled Celestial and will be the Judas Priest frontman’s second Yuletide release and follows Halford III: Winter Songs, which launched in 2009.

Like the previously release, the new album will feature a collection festive favourites which have been given a metal makeover, including Away In A Manger, The First Noel, O Little Town Of Bethlehem and Good King Wenceslas.

Celestial is set to arrive on October 18 through Legacy Recordings.

Along with the traditional Christmas tunes, Celestial will also include four original songs which were recorded for the project: Celestial, Donner And Blitzen, Morning Star and Protected By The Light.

And to mark the announcement, Halford has released a video for Donner And Blitzen which can be found below, along with the cover art, tracklist and pre-order details.

Halford is joined on Celestial by a number of associates, friends and family.

Next year will mark Judas Priest’s 50th anniversary, with the band revealing last month that they would play a special set to mark the milestone at Wacken Open Air which will take place between July 30 - August 1.

The band will also be special guests of Ozzy Osbourne on the rescheduled UK and European leg of his No More Tour 2 shows in early 2020.

Rob Halford: Celestial
1. Celestial
2. Donner and Blitzen
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
4. Away In A Manger
5. Morning Star
6. Deck The Halls
7. Joy To The World
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. The First Noel
11. Good King Wenceslas
12. Protected By The Light

Rob Halford: Celestial

Rob Halford: Celestial
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford will release a new collection of festive favourites with a metal makeover in October. Celestial also features four brand new tracks.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.

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