Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford achieved one major career goal this year when he got the news that his band would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
His next goal: get a photo at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with fellow 2022 inductee Dolly Parton.
Halford tells Metal Crypt that he's unsure whether he'll be allowed near the country icon, but he says he'll resort to guerilla tactics if necessary.
"Even if she doesn't know who I am, if she's sitting at the table, at the Nokia Theater, or wherever it is in L.A. I've been in that building many times, so I can imagine how it's laid out," Halford said. "I'm going to see what table she is sitting at. I'm just going to run to the table and do the devil's horns thing like this."
It may not come to that, however. Halford notes that despite differences in their aesthetics, all musicians have common ground on which to relate. Writing songs, he says, is a unifying challenge, whether you're making country, pop or heavy metal.
“I've said this many, many times, that when you're in the company of your fellow musicians, we have so much in common because writing a metal song is no different to writing a country song," he continued.
"What I mean about that, is you start the day with nothing, and at the end of the day if your creativity’s working you could have something very special. It doesn’t matter whether Judas Priest, Dolly Parton, the Eurythmics, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran, et cetera — we all live the same kind of life; the studio, on the road, and the dressing room; it’s all the same, man. The music’s different but the life is the same."
The Metal God says he's looking forward to making the most of his Hall of Fame induction night and "meeting as many people" as he possibly can.
"I love meeting people and I love talking about music, no matter what kind of music it is," he said. "It would be an epic moment because I’ve met Lady Gaga, I’ve met Madonna. I’ve yet to meet Cher, but I also want to meet Dolly Parton.”