Rob Halford shares his memories of meeting Bob Dylan: “Bob said ‘How is Ozzy?’ “

The British metal gods, Judas Priest, got their unusual name from a song by Bob Dylan, The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, from Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding, and in the new number of Classic rock magazine, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham band, Priest frontman Rob Halford shares memories of his only meeting with the legendary American singer-songwriter.

“I met him for about three minutes when [Halford’s solo band] Fight was doing a show at Sony Studios, ”Halford recalls. “One of the label managers said, ‘Bob Dylan is in the next room. Do you want to meet him? ‘ I’m like: [enthusiastically] “Yeah, who doesn’t want to meet Dylan?” “

“So this guy takes me to this room.” And there’s Bob, he’s got five or six girls hanging out with him. This guy from the record says, ‘Bob, here’s someone I would like to introduce you to, it’s Rob Halford, he’s from the British heavy metal band Judas Priest.’ And Bob says: [spot-on Dylan impression] ‘Heeeeey, what’s going on? What is happening’?’ And I say, ‘Hey Bob, it’s really nice to meet you.’

“He said, ‘Where are you from?’ and I say, ‘I’m from Birmingham.’ And he said, ‘Birmingham? [pause]. How’s Ozzy? Then I was blown away.

Elsewhere in the interview, Halford refuses to reveal the highly anticipated Priest’s 2018 follow-up Firepower album, insisting that “the management will bring me to my knees”. He reveals, however, that the band had a big writing session for the album, and that their new material sounds “awesome”, adding “they were really instinctive”.

For more of Halford’s revelations, including his thoughts on Judas Priest’s most “hot” songs, as well as interviews with every member of the band, check out the new issue of Classic rock magazine, which also features The Who, Elton John, Motorhead, Stone Temple Pilots, Led Zeppelin, Jane’s Addiction and more.