JUDAS PRIEST Frontman ROB HALFORD Talks Battle With Prostate Cancer – “To Come Through The Other Side Of That Challenge Was A Life Changer”

In late 2021 Heavy Consequence spoke with Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford, for an interview about the band’s new 50 Heavy Metal Years Of Music box set.

During the chat, Rob casually revealed, “I had my little cancer battle a year ago, which I got through and that’s in remission now, thank God. That happened while we were all locked down, so things happen for a reason as far as time sequence of events. I have nothing but gratitude to be at this point in my life, still doing what I love the most.”

Guesting on a recent episode of the Prostate Cancer Uncensored podcast – hosted by Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, who is also a prostate cancer survivor – Halford opened up about his decision to go public with his battle.  

Halford: “My PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels were starting to get elevated many, many years before I finally had a check-up with my doctor. He took the blood tests and he goes, ‘Man, these numbers are really high. I’m gonna take you to my guy.’ I wanna say it was close to 10 years (ago) when my PSA levels were starting to get elevated. I was living in San Diego at the time, and my doctor there, he, as well, said, ‘Rob, we need to keep an eye on this. I don’t like the look of these numbers. Can you come in and see me, and we’ll run some tests?’ So this is on the eve of a big world tour. So what do you do? ‘Yeah, doc. I’ll just get this tour completed and I’ll come and see you.’ So, as you know, Jay, when we go on these world tours, they can take a year, two years, three years to complete, so through that whole touring process, I never got the follow-ups that I needed to get done, done.

And let me quickly say that it’s a guy thing, right? I’m a 70-year-old metalhead. I come from a generation when men, we didn’t talk about these kinds of things. We never really talked about our health. We always found it difficult to open up emotionally, let alone anything else. So on top of all of the things that I was dealing with on the road and having a great time, I knew this was lurking in the back of my mind.

The health side of life is so important, and after having gone through what I did, I’m grateful and blessed to be able to do the work. As a result of going through the recovery process and the stars aligning and the calendar being in the right place, I was able to go out there and do my work now probably with even more intensity, because to come through the other side of that challenge was, without a doubt, a life changer. So, to be in this opportunity is just an extra boost. You feel that even more now when you go out on stage and you’re so grateful to be able to continue doing the work that you love.”