Gay heavy metal legend Rob Halford gets hitched to long-term partner
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. (Getty)
Judas Priest's Rob Halford. (Getty)
Rob Halford, the frontman of Judas Priest, has opened up about marrying his long-term partner in a small ceremony last year.
74-year-old Halford was the first openly gay metal singer and has been the lead singer of the heavy metal rock band, Judas Priest, for most of the band’s nearly 60 years.
Joining Jake Shears on the podcast Queer the Music recently, Halford, who is currently touring North America with Alice Cooper, revealed that he had married his partner, Thomas, last year.
“We got married by the cactus outside about a year or so ago,” Halford, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, explained.
Halford indicated that he had asked “Let’s get married” multiple times in the past only to be told, “No, I don’t wanna get married.” He continued, “Suddenly on one of our night walks, [Thomas] goes, ‘I think we should get married.’ [I went] straight home [and got] on the phone to get a pastor.”
The pair, who have been together for 35 years, had a “very simple ceremony,” Halford told Shears. “It was obviously me and him and an officiant, as they call them, who are legalized to marry people.” Including witnesses, “There was just four of us around the pool, around the cactus, the heavy metal cactus. And it was over in an instant. But it was just a beautiful, simple ceremony.”
The Judas Priest frontman said that “it’s just nice” to be married. “The commitment goes to another level when you get married. It’s a great thing to do. And if it doesn’t work, that’s life. But I think after being together for 35 years, it’s working,” he added.
Touching on life as a closeted gay man in Judas Priest’s early days, Halford said he “had to deal with that.” He admitted to using substances to “numb the pain” of rejection and the fear of losing everything. “It was tough for the longest time have to live a double life,” he said.
