Judas Priest will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band will receive the Musical Excellence Award at the event. In the performers category, artists such as Eminem, Duran Duran, Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, and Carly Simon will be honored.
The Hall of Fame has selected current members Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, and Scott Travis for the induction. Former members of the band included in the induction are KK Downing, Les Binks, and late drummer Dave Holland. When Halford received news of this, he said that he would like to extend the invitation of Priest’s former members to be part of the induction. Halford told Billboard that for this occasion, any ill feelings between the members can be set aside.
Halford said that Tipton will likely attend the ceremony. Tipton is battling Parkinson’s disease, but he was on the road playing during Priest’s latest North American tour encores.
Due to supposed conflicts and bad management within the band, Downing left Priest in 2011. Downing said in 2019, that he reached out to the band about taking part in the band’s 50th-anniversary tour but they were not interested in having him included in the celebrations. Downing said that he sent two resignation letters – one was a typical nice letter and the other an angrily written note. Downing maintains that the second letter was one of the biggest reasons he wasn’t invited to the tour.
The 2022 Rock Hall induction ceremony will take place on November 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Ozzy Osbourne also marked the occasion by posting a photo of himself and Rob Halford using an offensive gesture backstage.