During a recent appearance on the radio show, ‘Music Vibes With DC Hendrix Podcast,’ the legendary singer of Judas Priest, Rob Halford recalled how he announced the world that he’s gay, and how he felt after this brave decision.
When Rob Halford appeared on MTV News in 1998, he publicly announced that he was gay while he had no plans to explain his sexual preference before participating in the show. So it was a simultaneous situation at all.
Here’s what Rob Halford told:
“I was in there talking about a record that I made with my good friend John 5, who is a tremendous guitar player. We made a record called Two. And I was in the studio promoting that record – if my memory serves me correctly.
It was kind of an off-the-cuff type of statement. I forget what the question was that the producer asked me, but I said, ‘Yada-yada-yada, speaking as a gay man, yada-yada-yada…’ And that’s how it kind of broke through.
It only takes a fraction of a second of your life to step forward and tell the world – tell your family, tell your friends, tell your schoolmates, tell your co-workers – who you are, This is the way I am.’ And it’s the most wonderful, liberating feeling you can ever experience.”
He continued:
“After I got back to the hotel, my brain was, like, ‘What have I done?’ And secondly [I thought to myself], ‘I feel great now. Now I’ve got a huge weight off my shoulders. I don’t have to hide.
People can’t make snickery remarks about me – it’s all kind of out in the open.’ That’s why we call it coming out. And it’s the best thing you can do for yourself. In my world of metal, it was kind of a big leap forward.
We’re all connected. We’ve still got a long way to go in terms of equality and acceptance, but great things never happen overnight. So we’ve still got a long journey to make. But I’ll never stop talking about it, ’cause it’s important to me and so many other people.”
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