Thursday, August 25: Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Aug. 25) to Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. The ‘Metal God’ is 65. Also celebrating today is Kiss’ Gene Simmons (67) and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell (54).

Judas Priest formed out of Birmingham, England in 1969  and have sold 50 million records worldwide. The current lineup for Judas Priest is Rob Halford on vocals, guiatrists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band’s most successful album was 1982’s Screaming for Vengence. It was the band’s commercial breakthrough featuring the classic lineup of Halford, Tipton, Hill, K.K. Downing, and Dave Holland. The album would sell over 5 million copies with the hit single “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”.

Judas Priest continued with much success throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Their last studio album was 2014’s Redeemer of Souls. Check out the official Judas Priest website here.