Former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing revealed whether they always knew that the band’s frontman Rob Halford was gay during his recent conversation with NFR and highlighted that his sexuality significantly contributed to the band.

Unfortunately, the entertainment industry, which has gained a lot of money from heterosexual musicians, also forced LGBTQ+ artists to lie about their sexual orientation. Consequently, LGBTQ+ members live in the shadows for years due to society’s pressure, prejudice, and the record companies’ strict rules.

Then society started changing, and people started showing more respect towards the LGBTQ+ community. Thus, many ‘closeted’ artists decided to open up about their sexuality. As one of them, Rob Halford unveiled that he was gay and didn’t want to lie to his fans anymore even though he knew that he could be targeted because of that.

However, Halford’s friends, bandmates, and fans reflected their support, and his ex-bandmate KK Downing recently stated that they had realized that Halford was gay before he told them. He emphasized that Rob’s sexuality made him a better frontman since he is theatrical, loyal, dedicated, sensitive, and a great showman.

In Downing’s words, he said:

“We always knew Rob was gay because the thing is back in the days – in the ’60s and particularly early ’70s when everything was still kind of behind closed doors and stuff like that – people felt a bit more comfortable around us because we would hang around in groups and gangs and we would always know that that guy is different from us and that girl is different.

I actually looked like a girl – let’s be honest. When I was, like, 17-18, I had hair down to my waist. I can remember being at a jukebox once in a bar, and I must have been 18, and this big trucker came up behind me, and he put his hands underneath my arms to feel my boobs.”

He added:

“I was like, ‘Excuse me, mate,’ as best as I could. He groped what he thought was a girl. But pretty much everything was androgynous in those days.

The main thing is. Obviously, to me, Rob being gay, apart from a great voice, I thought Rob was gonna stay in the band forever, and he’s obviously gonna be theatrical, he’s gonna be obviously articulate with words – and he was; he was all of that.

Sensitivities and all of that, and the showmanship – so all of these ingredients were great attributes to have as a frontman. I proved to be right.”

You can watch the interview below.