JUDAS PRIEST RANKED IN TOP 5 IN THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME FAN VOTE

Legendary British metallers, Judas Priest, have been ranked in the top 5 of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame fan vote. The ballot results see Priest along with Soundgarden, The Dave Matthews Band, The Doobie Brothers and Pat Benatar make the ‘top five’. The official list of inductees will be released at 1pm GMT today (8am ET)

A total of 8,251,235 fan votes were cast worldwide with Priest racking up 675,434 fan votes.

Surprisingly, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead and T Rex missed out receiving 556,476 votes, 512,918 votes and 365,290 votes respectively.

Judas Priest founding member KK Downing comments:

“With respect to the nomination, this is the second time Priest have been nominated and I think it’s a good thing. Thank you to everyone that voted. I think it’s fair to say the RARHOF is USA generated, more so than anywhere else in the world and I think for that reason its tough for a lot of bands that we over here in the UK see as Mega Gods – Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, T Rex even, they were legendary. I think that’s the difference, I think it’s fair to say, Priest were perhaps more prolific in the 80’s in the US than perhaps we were in the UK. We did a lot of shows there, we became a bigger band there than we were in the UK and Europe.

I think that’s were the mighty Iron Maiden came in, I think it’s fair to say, in the first instance, Maiden became bigger over here and in Europe than we did, we were spending a lot of time playing in the States and Canada, and the rest of the world, rather than playing this side of the pond and now, as we know, Iron Maiden are giant in every corner of the planet. I fully expect that Maiden should be in there as well, they definitely deserve their place.

There’s a lot of artists that we over here are less familiar with, that are massive in the States. The Dave Matthews Band who are ranked number one and Pat Benatar for instance, America is a big place and the people who they are familiar with are going to get a vote.

But, in the twilight of our careers and lives, to get these accolades is a good thing. We managed to get a Grammy, so this would be a great addition to stick on the mantlepiece! I really hope we get the this.”

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony takes place in Cleveland on the 20^th May and in previous years, bands have invited former members to join them to play live on stage. Heart invited their original bass player, Steve Fossen and drummer Michael DeRosier when they got inducted in 2013.

With 2020 being Judas Priest’s 50^th anniversary year, I’m sure it would be an extra special treat for the fans if former members were included in any performance that may take place. Stained Class and Killing Machine drummer Les Binks, who also played on the live album Unleashed in the East, is also named as an ‘inductee’ along with KK Downing and the remaining original members of Priest, Rob Halford, Glen Tipton, Ian Hill, Scott Travis and Dave Holland, who sadly is no longer with us.

Unfortunately for the fans, it seems that no effort has been made by the band to reach out and include fellow surviving inducted members. Last November, KK Downing approached Judas Priest to float the idea of him joining the band for some of the 50^th anniversary celebrations but they were not receptive to that idea. However, could the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame be any different? It is in the lap of the ‘Metal Gods’ so to speak, and moving forward now, all that’s left for us to do is wait and see.