Nardwuar: Who are you?
Halford: Who am I... Who am I... (laughs)

You're the metal god! Now the rumour is that you played "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" at a theatre. Is that true?
No no no no. Where is that from? My life is surrounded by rumours. I'm like one big rumour. What you might be thinking of was a baseball event that I was a part of with the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team at the Bank One ball park. It opened some years ago and I sang the national anthem there with Dave Mustaine, Alice Cooper, Nils Lofgren and a bunch of other local talent. And that was a really cool special event, but that's my only association with baseball 'cause still after all these years I look at a baseball game and say, "What is that guy doing over there?" and "Why is he running over there?" You know? I'm still confused as all hell when it comes to baseball.

Rob Halford, your new cd is amazing. I mean, it's amazing. You're totally back. I mean, not that you were gone before, but like the 3.5 octave range... is that why you can hold the same notes for twenty years? How do you do it?
I don't know that it's coffee... lots of coffee, and nicotine, which I'm not using right now for health issues, but I will when I finish this interview. Umm, but I don't know. I mean, the thing about singers is that we've all got different abilities. We're born with what you've got. What I tried to do when I began this heavy metal thing years and years ago is just experiment and do as many things as I could do with the voice. And I've just been given this gift of all the extra possibilities. You know, like notes that only dogs can hear, that kind of a thing.

(reading Rob's Lyrics from his new CD, Resurrection) "I am God. I am Hate. I am all the sins you...
Make.

I was curious Rob, you've been kind of pegged over the years as a Satanist. For instance, from the Washington Post, January 1991, "Halford loves opera and classical music and collects modern art..."
Yeah, where does...

...and then they go on to say "Not your average Satan"
Yeah, (laughs) but where does Satan come into all this?

They love digging at that.
Well you know it's because they've got nothing else to talk about. They want to find some kind of controversial moment. So they kind of sit there at their typewriter thinking "Judas Priest... that sounds a little... Judas... that was the dude that did the bad stuff on Christ. Okay, that's kind of evil. Priest? Yeah, there's something really malevolent about this. Okay, Satan's there somewhere."

You did throw in '666' on your new album "Resurrection". (Nardwuar then shows Rob the book 'Rock: Practical Help For Those Who Listen to the Words and Don't Like What They Hear' by Bob Larson) Have you heard of this guy Bob Larson, Bob Halford?
Bob Larson? No, who is this guy?

He's from the Bob Larson Ministries. Check this out. This is a quote here about Judas Priest from his book, If I could just read it right here to you. "With a stage act ranging from smoke bombs to bull whips, the leather clad image of Judas Priest..."
(Looking at a particular word Nardwuar missed reading out) "Bellicose!" I love this word "bellicose." I'm going to use this word on the next Halford album. I swear that I will use the word "bellicose."

I was afraid to pronounce it... continuing on, "Fits well with their heavy metal earsplitting music. Dressed in chains and studs, singer Rob Halford has been known to drop his leather drawers mid-concert." Have you ever done that, Rob?
Yeah I do that most nights. Yeah why not?

"When asked if he was personally involved in the S&M love torture techniques parodied in his performances Halford replied "To a certain extent. Sexually I've always been to the fullest extent of the experience S&M has to offer. It's nice to experiment by yourself and get off on whatever you get off on."
Yeah, my best friend is a jar of baby oil and a porno mag.

"A rock magazine promoting one of other albums may have said it best 'Judas Priest has sin for sale.'" Rob Halford, what do you think of that?
I don't know exactly what this book is about. What is it about?

It's about all of the 'bad' bands...
(Looking at back cover of book) They listen to the words and don't like what they hear?

Well... I guess I was curious do you have a dungeon in your house?
Yeah, actually. I do actually. Yeah, I have a dungeon and it's in my place in Phoenix and it's right next to the workout room. Uh, 'cause you have to pump up a sweat before you go into the dungeon routine. But in the dungeon I've got like a sling, I've got like a gynocological chair, I've got whips and chains and black candles and all this other cool stuff.

Which is...
Which is up for sale shortly 'cause I'm moving.

On the internet.
That's a good idea. eBay. Watch out!

Just like some guy from Stryper put who put up all his stuff for sale. I think one of those Stryper outfits was for sale.
Y'know KISS just had their big auction. You could buy a piece of crap from KISS for like two thousand dollars.

But Rob, what's amazing is Pat Boone... you're approved by Pat Boone. Pat Boone covered one of your songs, right? Explain a bit about that. Like the parents should know that. Y'know, screw Satan!
Yeah, you know isn't this bizarre. Here's Pat Boone babbling, speaking in tongues, trying to heal people with his hands and he gives me a call and says "Rob, will you sing on my album," 'Pat Boone In a Heavy Metal Mood'? (laughs) So he sends me this kind of swing Las Vegas version of... (snaps his fingers and puts on a crooner's voice) "You Got Another Thing Coming" baybee, yeah!

Right here before your gig, Rob, what is your pre-gig warm-up? I heard you listen to a lot of Sabbath.
I think this is it. I'm having it right now. I could literally walk from this room and rip the skin off people's faces.

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