Judas Priest will reunite onstage with their estranged former guitarist KK Downing at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles on November 5.
After both Rob Halford and Ian Hill revealed that Downing was in touch with their management about the ceremony, Downing himself has confirmed his participation in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock.
"It'll go by in a flash, won't it?" he says. "I think we've probably got eight or nine minutes," he said. "I'm not even going to be able to break a sweat. The main thing is to represent the attitude and hopefully the legend of what Judas Priest is and has become and what it means to everybody who's been on that very long journey through the decades with the band. And hopefully it will just kind of remind people and bring back some cherished memories of the heavy metal parking lots all around the world."
He continues, "it'll be quite something to look forward to, just to get up there and crank the amps up and just do it once again, for that short moment in time."
Richie Faulkner, Downing's replacement in the British metal gods will not be be eligible to pick up Priest's Musical Excellence Award alongside his bandmates.
“The rule as I understand it, is whoever has been with the band for 20 years," bassist Ian Hill told Metal Hammer's Rich Hobson in May. "Richie [Faulkner] is sadly not being inducted, but really deserves to be as he’s been the driving force in the band for nearly 12 years now. Dave Holland [drummer 1979-1989] was in the band for a long time and obviously Ken [KK Dowling] will be there. Les Binks was with us all those years, as was Scott [Travis, drums] so he’ll be part of the induction too.”
"It’s nice to get recognised!" Hill continued. "We wouldn’t have lost any sleep if we hadn’t got it, but it is great to be honoured after all this time.”
The 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on November 5 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
